Friday, February 29, 2008

A Little Home Cooke-in'

With the big names of Cristobal Huet and Sergei Fedorov making their debut in a Washington sweater later this evening, the third man in may seem a bit of an afterthought. But Matt Cooke was the only player acquired that cost the Capitals a roster player -- so why not learn a bit more about this deal.

Cooke arrived in Vancouver in the NHL as a 20 year old, and has spent his entire nine year career there. The 5'11" 205 pounder plays a very similar style to former Capitals great Dale Hunter, who just so happens to be similar in stature as well. (Huntsy was listed as 5'10" 200 pounds.) While their agitating, "in your face" styles are tantamount, the disparity between Cooke and Hunter is in their willingness to drop the gloves.

Throughout his illustrious career (one which culminated with his number raised to the rafters at the Verizon Center,) Hunter never shied away from a pugilistic confrontation. According to hockeyfights.com, Hunter had as many as ten regular season altercations in a single year twice. Cooke, on the other hand, has had that many regular season fights in his entire career. It is believed this is why Cooke butted heads with current Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault. From the Vancouver Sun:

It was thought that Vigneault especially didn't like the fact that Cooke, who played the role of agitator, almost never answered a challenge to an on-ice fight. "I fought more this year than I have any other season in the past and that's all I have to say about that," Cooke said.

For the record, Cooke has fought twice this season -- the same number as David Steckel. But the Capitals aren't looking for that from him. 

Vigneault's Canucks have been involved in 51 fights this season, fourth most in the entire league. The guy wants fighting and if you don't do engage his wishes, apparently you fall out of favor. The Capitals, meanwhile, have been involved in only 27 scraps, good for 22nd in the league. Unlike in Vancouver, the Capitals have the best of the best in Donald Brashear so it is unnecessary for Cooke to drop the gloves regularly. His job will be to annoy the heck out of the opposition and get them off their game, something the Capitals don't have right now and haven't had since Dale Hunter retired.

On the other side of the deal, Matt Pettinger leaves D.C. for his hometown Canucks. When asked by Vancouver's inundating reporters to compare the media coverage with Washington's, Pettinger replied, "I think combined, in all my eight years with the Capitals' organization, I might have had this many people talk to me. When I was traded, I didn't have to do one [farewell] interview there."

No offense Matt, but if given 838 minutes of ice time over 57 games, I could have probably scored two goals as well. And rest assured, no one would have asked me any questions on my way out the door either.

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