COOKE SHOULD GET A YEAR, BUT I WON'T HOLD MY BREATH

Here's another blatant cheap shot by Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Where are Mario Lemieux, Air Canada, and Via Rail today? If they truly mean what they say through previous statements, then we'll hear from them again. Lemieux, in particular, needs to take a stand. Whatever the NHL hands down for a suspension, the Penguins should tack on more for conduct detrimental to their organization.

Cooke is like the chronic drunk driver and the NHL is the frustrating judge that continues to re-issue him a license.

I would suspend Cooke for a full twelve months for this based on his previous track record. However, if he was handled properly in the first place the NHL should simply revoke his privilege to play in the NHL.

Cooke, obviously, has no problem at all with what he did to Marc Savard as it's very possible Savard's career is over. His actions are extremely dangerous and here he is again out to end another player's career.

I wonder what kind of a case Ryan McDonagh would have if he went after the NHL in a lawsuit for providing an unsafe work environment.

By the way, did anyone see the Brad Marchand elbow on RJ Umberger earlier this week? Just a complete disregard for human life. Sounds over the top, but that's what it has come down to. Umberger has been previously concussed in a serious incident a few years ago; so who knows what his long term life expectancy is.

I haven't seen the Dany Heatley on Steve Ott elbow, but why wouldn't Heatley take liberties? After all, he didn't do a day of jail time for recklessly killing his friend in a drunk driving accident a few years ago. He took the Ottawa Senators signing bonus despite holding out and demanding a trade on his no-movement contract. So, there's very little accountability when it comes to him. And, a two game suspension is a welcome break after you've played almost 70 in a row. Thanks for the holiday.

This crap has to stop.