Day one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in the books. 5 of the 8 series have begun and things are already shaping up to be interesting. Two goalies, Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury and Vancouver's Roberto Luongo, recorded shutouts for their teams. One game ended in with a thrilling overtime finish, and one lower seed defeated the higher seed.
Today Penguins enforcer, and noted NHL villain, Matt Cooke received a suspension that will cover the rest of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs. A suspension of such length covers at least 14 games and at most 17.
Last Sunday Cooke delivered an unnecessary elbow to the head of New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh. It has been implied that the NHL is using this hit as an example as Cooke is a repeat offender and the hit showed intent to injure. Cooke will forfeit over $200,000 in salary
The Penguins general manager Ray Shero offered this statement:
“The suspension is warranted because that’s exactly the kind of hit we’re trying to get out of the game. Head shots have no place in hockey. We’ve told Matt in no uncertain terms that this kind of action on the ice is unacceptable and cannot happen. Head shots must be dealt with severely, and the Pittsburgh Penguins support the NHL in sending this very strong message.”
As a Pens fan, I am disgusted and disappointed with Cooke. He deserves every punishment the NHL offers him.
Will you be seeing your team in the playoffs in just under a month when the NHL concludes its regular season April 10th?
(Sorry Ottawa Fans...)
This is part one of out two part series looking at the playoff picture. Part I features the Eastern Conference and Part II will look at the Western Conference.
TSN's Bob McKenzie reports that Florida has traded star defenseman Bryan McCabe to the New York Rangers in exchange for forward Tim Kennedy and a third round draft pick.
(He's coming for you...)
McCabe, in the last year of his 5 year $28.75 million dollar contract, will have to waive his no-trade clause to come to the Big Apple. He has reached out on twitter stating that he is willing to do that so the trade seems imminent.
The former Florida captain has 5 goals and 17 assists in 48 games. This trade is a huge pickup for the Rangers as it gives them a veteran presence that they currently did not have. All of their top 6 defensemen are under the age of 26.
In addition to todays trade, multiple waiver claims were made. Washington picked up Marco Sturm, Philadelphia picked up Nick Boynton, and Los Angeles claimed Craig Rivet. The New York Islanders also waived Rob Shremp and goalie Nate Lawson.
Click here to check out the rest of the trades to go down.
