Hot News: Matt Cooke up to his old tricks? Minnesota Wild forward under fire for knee-on ...

Matt Cooke has a long suspension history and a reputation as a dirty player. Cooke also vowed to change his ways a few years ago and has stayed fairly clear of trouble since then.

A hit on the Colorado Avalanche's Tyson Barrie on Monday, however, was a step in the wrong direction for the Minnesota Wild forward's reputation.

Cooke sidelined Barrie with a knee-on-knee hit on the open ice in Monday's game.



Colorado coach Patrick Roy said after the Wild's 1-0 overtime win that Barrie has a medial collateral ligament injury in his left knee and will need four to six weeks to recover.

Roy called it the 'play of the game,' lamenting the loss of his team's best offensive defenceman. The coach said he thought the play warranted more punishment than Cooke's two-minute minor penalty.

'I think it would've broke their momentum. There's a key moment in those games. And now we believe that the league will make the right call,' Roy said.

The NHL Department of Player Safety announced on Twitter that Cooke has been offered an in-person hearing for the kneeing but said details were to be determined.

Cooke, of course, is no stranger to supplemental discipline. He has been suspended six times during his NHL career, and has has been criticized for other hits the league did not deem suspension-worthy.

In 2011, Cooke received what amounted to a 17-game suspension for elbowing Rangers defenceman Ryan McDonagh in the head. Cooke was banned for the remainder of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs that spring. Sobered by the punishment, Cooke said he needed to change the way he plays.

'My actions will prove it,' he told reporters then.

Cooke also vowed to change Wild fans' opinions of him - many fans disliked him for his actions against Minnesota in the playoffs while playing for the Vancouver Canucks - when he signed with the team.

On Monday night, Cooke appeared to fall short of that goal. Twitter was unimpressed with Cooke's behaviour.

Matt Cooke (again) on one of the @ NHL most impressive young players @ tysonbarrie ...- Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) April 22, 2014

Bad RT @ PeteBlackburn: GIF: Matt Cooke injures Tyson Barrie with a kneeing penalty twitpic.com/e1qsgr- Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 22, 2014

This was almost five years ago? Seems like just yesterday with Matt Cooke, youtube.com/watch?v=hO5TA4...- Chip Alexander (@ice_chip) April 22, 2014

(Cooke also sliced Erik Karlsson's Achilles tendon with his skate since his promise, but that was an accident.)

The Wild trail the Avalanche 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs. They can tie the series at home in Game 4 on Thursday. With files from The Associated Press

Post By http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/04/22/matt-cooke-up-to-his-old-tricks-minnesota-wild-forward-under-fire-for-knee-on-knee-hit/