I fall more on the "don't like him" side. He's pretty versatile and would fill a role on any team but I don't like his type. Never have, never will. As long as he's here I'm just happy he runs someone else's players.
Why don't you define it for us exactly, that way we're all clear.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geno
Didn't say you did.
But I can't stand people who will stand up for their players simply because they wear a Pens jersey.
I can only defend Cooke so much before feeling like a complete moron.
He was an embarrassment last night running Dipietro 3 times.
Why you're at it, why don't you define "running" the goalie for us.
I watch a fair amount of hockey. I can tell you I've NEVER, EVER seen another player push a guy into a goalie. Not once,... until Matt the baby killer Cooke did it.
Then the guy had the audacity to run DP again, with his back turned, CLEARY standing in white "paint". He's a witch buuuuuuurrrrnnnn him!
Did he antagonize DP? Yes. Did he ultimately take penalties for those actions? Yes. Crime and Punishment, and all is right in the world again.
I don't supose you saw Cannon try to lay that hit on the Cookie Monster today.
I'm a Leafs fan first and foremost, but after that the Pens are certainly one of my favourite teams, absolutely love Crosby, Malkin and Staal. However, I cannot stand Matt Cooke. I'm kind of curious if legit Pens fans like Cooke, or feel that he's a d-bag who takes it too far?
He is a D-bag who takes it too far. And I ****ing love him for it.
I can appreciate that he's more than just a goon and can actually play the game. But, regardless of the sweater they put on, I don't like guys that take cheap shots. And Cooke does. Perhaps not as much as the fans of other teams around the league like to claim, but enough to clearly tarnish his reputation. I don't appreciate guys pulling those sort of antics on our players, so it would make me a huge hypocrite to suddenly support it going the other way. So no, I can't say I like Cooke all that much.
Now, all that said, I love having the guy on our team.
Cookie is a very bad and dangerous man out there. I'd rather have that on my side than against me. I suppose it's still a love/hate relationship even when guys like him are on your side. He brings a lot to the table that you'll love, but he also goes a bit too far sometimes. You also have to put up with the occasional stupid penalties he takes and reputations calls he gets that can hurt the team. If he played for another team, I'd hate his guts, though. I'd probably throw a damn part when he retires or gets knocked out of the game for good.
If he wasn't a Pen...I'd absolutely hate him. Just like Ruutu.
Thankfully, that idiot plays for our team and I'd rather he run their goalie then ours...
Cooke is so much better than Ruutu it is not even funny. Cooke is one of the best agitators in the game, and can actually play hockey pretty reasonably to boot. The stupid stuff all agitators do, he gets us burned far less than others in that catagory. Ruutu always seemed to do it at the wrong time. Glad we have Cooke. Long and the short of it is that Cooke contributes uniquely to winning us games and would be missed, and we would win fewer games, without him. That is all that matters.
The thing about Cooke is that he can play; he's a great 3rd line grinder who finishes his checks. His "dirtiness" is undeniable but definitely exaggerated.
He's a good hockey player in his role first and well before his moments of goonishness; since that's the order I see, I do like him. If it was the other way around I probably wouldn't.
I honestly laugh at all these non-Pens fans that continuously go on and on about how much they hate Cooke and still wouldn't like him even if he was on their own team. Hypocricy at its best, because you know for a fact that there's no way possible they could hate having a player like him on your squad.
I don't know if anyone's ever watched Generation Kill (David Simon's brilliant miniseries about the first Marine regimen in Iraq), but there's one character in it, called "Trombley", who was a bit crazy. There was an excellent scene after he mistakenly killed some Iraqi child (whilst he was killing their camels for fun), where two of the characters in his company were talking about the affair.
One of them turns to the other and say, "Yeah, but you know what's even more ****ed up? Trombley only shot two bursts, maybe 7 rounds. I mean, we're bumping down a dirt road, his targets are like 200 meters out.... and he hits exactly what the **** he's shooting at? I mean, **** man. The boy is a cold-on dead eye killer."
The other looks back at him and says "Yeah, no ****...that's 'cause he's a psycho". Yet, he thinks about it real quick, pauses for a minute, and concludes:
I used to hate them both but since we've had Ruutu and Cooke on this team it has made me appreciate them more, including the fact they chip in the occasional points which is 100% bonus. Let's put it this way: there are really only a couple guys who play this kind of game, who if they were on this team I'd still hate their guts / feel shame for them being here.
One is Sean Avery, the other is Carcillo. So glad we traded that idiot. There might be one or two others I'm not thinking of but basically Cooke rides the fine line of being a dewsh without actually being one most of the time. I do agree he is not the brightest guy in the world, though. Heh.
I think maybe the ultimate guy we all love to hate, who plays a borderline dirty game sometimes, and who we would all love if he was here, is Hartnell. A more talented, dirtier version of Ryan Malone, but obviously a guy with a good attitude on and off the ice, when he's not eating fingers. The paternity suit jokes alone would put a crimp on bandwidth.
Anyway, it's the attitude that really sets dewshbags like Avery and Carcillo apart. They're maladjusted idiots, on the ice and off.
Last edited by Chancellor Vitale: 10-17-2010 at 10:24 AM.
What was good ole' Richie up set about? He didn't connect on Cooke's head when he had it down across the middle?
Bah, the usual. Talking about how Cooke is always on his case during games, and how he doesn't think he should have to fight Matt Cooke when someone like Crosby doesn't fight Carcillo. Really a bunch of useless garbage that only the likes of Mike Richards can say.
to me.
