Minnesota Wild forward Matt Cooke is no stranger to discipline from the league, and after receiving a seven-game suspension from the NHL for his knee-to-knee hit on Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie, Cooke made a statement regarding his sixth ban in three years.
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Cooke went to hit Barrie and ended up sticking out his knee and taking out one of the Avalanche's most reliable D-men during Game 3 of their best-of-seven Western Conference Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs series. As a result, Barrie is out 4-to-6 weeks with an MCL injury while Cooke will sit for seven games.
Cooke commented on the hit and the injury, as well as his suspension.
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"First and foremost, I want to say that I am disappointed and sorry that Barrie cannot play for the Colorado Avalanche tonight. I wish he could. Unfortunately, it was not my intent to collide with him knee-on-knee. It was my intent to finish my check," Cooke said Thursday prior to the Wild's 2-1 series-evening win via NHL.com. "The playoffs are a hard and physical time and it's my job to be physical. I've led my team in hits all three games and it's an intense time. I've led my team this year in hits, and in this series."
Cooke, whose suspension will carry over to next year's regular-season if the Wild doesn't have enough playoff games to fulfill the seven games, acknowledged his determination to change his reputation as a dirty player since he has tried to change his game following a myriad of suspensions and fines from the league.
"Since March 20, 2011, I've been a changed player," he told NHL.com." I've approached the game differently. I think differently about the game. The stats I've collected over those three seasons prove that I am a changed player. And the plays that I make and the plays that I don't make prove to that point as well. At the end of the day, this situation was not my intent."
The Avalanche took the first two games of the series in Colorado, but dropped the next two in Minnesota by a 1-0 margin in Game 1 -- where Barrie got hurt -- and then dropped Thursday's game 2-1 as the Wild have come back to nod the series at two games apiece.
Game 5 will take place at the Pepsi Center in Colorado at 9:30 p.m on Saturday. Neither Barrie nor Cooke will be in either team's lineup.
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