Tonight is the first time the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins play since Pens' forward Matt Cooke knocked Bruins' Marc Savard out for the season with a check to the head.
Cooke should have been suspended, he wasn't, the Bruins are going to be coming for blood. This desire to hurt Cooke and other members of the Pens has only been fed by Boston media. Several Boston play-by-play guys have come on Pittsburgh radio shows screaming for Cooke's head, to take out Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and trashing the city of Pittsburgh. I won't get too into it because I don't have soundbites for you, but some of these homers were incredibly unprofessional. You can probably listen to them at 93.7 The Fan, just listen to the Seibel and Starkey show.
Anyway, with the fans and media of Boston calling for retribution, it' safe to say that Cooke is going to have to drop the gloves at least once and have eyes in the back of his head. What Cooke needs to do is keep getting up, which will piss off the Bruins and lead to more Pens powerplays.
It reminds me a showing of WWE Raw a few years ago when Stone Cold Steve Austin was the biggest name in the business. He was the man without any friends, and he knew it. So for one night he would just pop in on random matches or interviews and beat the crap out of people. Eventually a group of other superstars got him, but he left plenty of people in his wake.
That's the attitude Cooke needs tonight. I'm not saying deliver checks to every Bruins' skull. I'm saying he needs to play his usual game. Finish checks, be feisty, trip a guy behind the play; just piss the Bruins off and keep them more focused on getting revenge. The more occupied they are about killing you, the more free Crosby and company will be to light up the lamp for a much needed two points.
Hockey fans and media alike are saying to drop the gloves at the beginning and get it over with, I say to hell with that. Dropping the gloves right away is giving the Bruins what they want. Make them come after you in a more important part of the game. Better yet, Cooke should make sure he gets some good, clean hits in before he grants the Bruins their wish for revenge.
Cooke is an instigator. Sometimes he goes to far, like with the Savard hit, but he can't let that one play effect how he plays tonight or any other game. And I am pretty sure he won't. He needs to pester the Bruins all night long, not just be a target for their them to take their anger out on.
By the way, Boston and all their sports teams are tools.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Won't Back Down
The song choices aren't commented on very much, so I thought I'd start with a pat on the back for your selection for tonight's game.
ReplyDeleteThe only other comment I have is that the Pensblog had a great line in their recap the day after the March 7th game against the Bruins.
"It will be 3-0 before fat-ass Tim Thomas can muster up the fortitude to complain. Thanks for the 2 points in advance."
Pretty much dead on, except Rask was in net.
Go Pens