If I was Commissioner of the NHL...

This year in the NHL saw the tightening of rules around hits to head and foul-play in general. Fines, Game Ejections, Suspensions...the works. I feel like theses changes left the players and hockey lovers alike very divided. Most would agree that the physicality is one of the most exciting aspects of the game.  How different is it watching an NHL All-Star Game (usually played without any contact) and a Stanley Cup Playoff (Mercy-less Battle)? Being tough physically on the ice can define a team and ultimately lead to more checks in the win column. Some players are even brought up to the pro-level for their fighting skills rather than their hockey ability. Tilt, Hitting, Checking, all a big part of the game.

But then there is the flip side of the coin...

Brutal Hits and Fights can leave players with injuries they may never fully recover from.  A career can end in the blink of an eye. A young star can have all the talent in the world, and one devastating crush into the boards and he may never play the same way again.

A perfect example of this was last year during a Pens vs. Bruins match-up. Pens forward Matt Cooke delivered a cheap shot to B's star forward Marc Savard. He suffered and season-ending concussion and still seems to fall short of expectations. I would like to say this is the first time Cooke has done something like this. But, unfortunately, he is a repeat offender with a nasty reputation. He is infamous for these kinds of intent-to-injure type hits, but loved by his teammates just the same. On the television series NHL 24/7, a show focused on the Caps & Pens "road to the winter classic," Cooke seemed more like a practical jokester rather than a bloodthirsty villian. But he has had altercations with all the top-names in the league and it is not like the players he attacks dont retaliate. Even though he has literally gotten his face beaten in, it doesn't seem like he is going to change his ways anytime soon.

Bruce Boudreau, Head Coach of the Caps, had this to say about Cooke following a knee to knee hit on Ovechkin (arguably the best player in the NHL) in open ice during a game 2/6/11---->

"It's Matt Cooke, Need we say more?" Boudreau said. "It's not like it's his first rodeo. He's done it to everybody. And then he goes to the ref and says 'What did I do?' He knows what he did. There's no doubt in my mind. He's good at it."

While Dan Bylsma (Head Coach of the Pens) responds: "Their skates probably just got tangled up" And the coach seems to stand by his player's actions 100%. Even saluting him as being a tough competitor out on the ice.

Certainly Matt Cooke isn't the only guy in the league that has this style of play. And I'm sure when the adrenaline is running on high and the anger is boiling inside, every NHL player has consindered or even done this type of malicious hit. But now I ask the tough question? Should the league do more to keep repeat offenders like Matt Cooke (someone on my Beloved Pens) from hurting the competition? Some complain, that this is "watering-down" the game and getting farther and farther from the NHL of the past. They dont want star players to suffer injuries but seeing big hits is all a part of the thrill that is hockey.

But I am not the commissioner of the NHL....yet, so that decision is in someone else's hands. But I am sure glad Matt Cooke is on our side, because we cannot suffer any more god damn injuries. And if he intimidates Pens opponents even slightly, then he is doing his job right.


Here is Cooke's hit on Savard from last year. I will let you be the judge: Should more disciplinary action be taken to prevent hits like this from happening?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-I5m4f0ZXA