Matt Cooke has been labeled a dirty player, a thug and a criminal element on the ice. Cooke, however, has reformed his game the last couple of years despite what Eugene Melnyk, the Ottawa Senators owner, would tell you. For those of you who don’t know what I’m referring to, On February 13 of this year, Cooke is blamed for engaging Erik Karlsson from behind to sabotage his leg. The fact of the matter is that this lifting of the leg by Cooke is a common play that checking forwards commit to when there objective is to pin an opposing player along the boards. This actual play happens dozens of times in an NHL game and the idea is for the checker to lodge his leg between the opponent’s legs to stop him from moving. This was not an attempt at, Slew-footing: Where one player kicks the skates out from under another player which usually ends up in an all out brawl. This was an unfortunate accident, but because of Cooke’s History of being a dirty player, it’s easy to pin him as a cheap shot artist.
Last year, the Minnesota Wild enthused their fans in the free agent frenzy when they scooped up the two hottest players in Ryan Suter and Zach Parise re-energizing the franchise and the fanbase. On July 5, 2013 Matt Cooke signed a three-year deal with the Minnesota Wild and not everyone was into it. Cooke, 34, tallied eight goals and 13 assists in 48 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins last season. In the 2011-12 season, Cooke had a breakout year for the Penguins when he recorded 19 goals and 19 assists. He was also the Penguins nominee for the Bill Masterson Trophy, which is given to a player that best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.
Over a decade ago when Cooke was playing with the Vancouver Canucks, he sucker punched Wild defenseman Jason Marshall breaking his nose. Cooke has had a few dustups with the Wild in his past and knows he will be hard pressed to win over hockey fans in Minnesota. However, that is all about to change as Cooke has “turned a new leaf.” Cooke has pulled a total class move by reaching out to Derek Boogard’s family, hoping the family will allow him to wear the number 24 in Minnesota. Cooke has worn one number in his entire NHL career and that is remembered as Boogard’s number. This is the absolute right move from Cooke and the Boogard family may very well support Cooke’s desire to suit up with his usual number. And for the record, Boogard’s number isn’t retired, so Cooke could wear the number 24 regardless of contacting Derek Boogard’s family. Furthermore, from various reports, it looks as if Cooke will receive that blessing from Derek’s parents, Joanne and Len Boogard.
Bryan Boogard, Derek’s brother had this to say, “I’m very impressed with Matt for what he did by reaching out to my parents. He didn’t have to do it as he could have just worn the number 24. But he thought of Derek and our family before doing so. I knew that someone would eventually wear number 24 and I was not expecting them to reach out to us, so when Matt did, I could not have been happier.” Matt Cooke has a disruptive history, however he has clearly, “turned a new leaf” in my book with a total class move.
