Bruins may stir something up for Cooke

Recipe for retribution at the Garden tonight?

March 18, 2010|Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff

Tonight at TD Garden, the Bruins will have a chance to do something the NHL did not. They can hold Penguins left wing Matt Cooke accountable for the damage he inflicted upon Marc Savard, still left dizzy by the blow to the head he took 11 days ago.

“Savvy’s not doing any better,’’ coach Claude Julien said Tuesday about the Bruins center, whose symptoms include headaches, nausea, and sensitivity to light. “Same thing.’’

Cooke skated without punishment from league disciplinarian Colin Campbell after delivering a blind-side head shot to Savard March 7 at Mellon Arena because the hit, according to the 2009-10 NHL rulebook, was legal. In the wake of the incident, the league’s general managers scripted a proposal for such hits to be penalized. Implementation of the new rule could be fast-tracked through the Competition Committee and Board of Governors before the end of the season.

Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli believes that had the rule been in place when Cooke launched himself into Savard, the Pittsburgh winger might have been suspended for 10 or more games.

Cooke should be in Pittsburgh’s lineup tonight, and undoubtedly will understand that Savard’s teammates, with the full approval of the Bruins faithful, will be looking to address the issue.

“We play Pittsburgh again?’’ vice president Cam Neely asked with a laugh. “I’m not going to get into what our fans expect. But part of what this game is all about is taking responsibility for the actions that we do. Sometimes, as much as the league wants to get it right, it’s difficult to get it right.’’

On Oct. 27, 2007, Philadelphia’s Randy Jones nearly ended Patrice Bergeron’s career when he sent the forward flying headfirst into the boards. In the next Boston-Philadelphia game, the Bruins didn’t target Jones. The only fight took place between Jeremy Reich and Ben Eager. The acknowledgement was that Jones, a puck-moving defenseman with little history of rough stuff, had thrown a bad hit, but not a dirty one.

In contrast, the Bruins have no doubt that Cooke was targeting Savard’s head.

“He knew exactly what he was doing,’’ said one Bruin.

According to the unwritten code that unofficially governs hockey, Cooke will be expected to drop the gloves. The 5-foot-11-inch, 205-pound Cooke won’t have to take on a heavyweight such as Zdeno Chara or Milan Lucic. The Code dictates that one clean, straight-up fight is the proper way to respond.

And should Shawn Thornton (a healthy scratch in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over Carolina) or Mark Stuart come calling, Cooke will have a challenge to accept — if he chooses to.

“Remember,’’ said Thornton, “that Cooke fought Steve Moore. So he’s been on the other side.’’