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Suspension over, Cooke ready ‘to get back out there’

Cooke
Minnesota forward Matt Cooke has finished serving his seven-game suspension for kneeing Colorado’s Tyson Barrie in the opening playoff round, and is eligible to return to the Wild lineup for Game 4 of their series against Chicago.

Cooke: I’m thankful for the success of my teammates. I await the opportunity to get back out there with them. #mnwild

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) May 7, 2014


It’ll be very interesting to see if Wild head coach Mike Yeo opts to insert Cooke for Game 4, as the move would alter a lineup that yielded Minnesota’s best performance of the series (and its lone win.)

While Cooke’s been out, the Wild have rotated in spare forwards -- Justin Fontaine and Stephane Veilleux, mostly -- and in Game 3, Yeo seemed to find a nice fit on the third line with Eric Haula centering Fontaine and Matt Moulson. The trio combined to score the game-winner (Haula, on assists from Fontaine and Moulson) while racking up four shots on goal.

Here’s more on the Cooke situation, from various reporters embedded in Minnesota:

Cooke didn’t want to talk specifics about the incident. Said that he reached out to Tyson Barrie.

— Sara Orlesky (@saraorlesky) May 7, 2014


Matt Cooke said “people are entitled to their opinion.” Said his job isn’t to change it, but to play his game starting Friday.

— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) May 7, 2014


Cooke said wanted to look forward,not behind when asked about appeal. Also said grateful wild advanced past round 1 so he could get back in

— Shawn Roarke (@sroarke_nhl) May 7, 2014


Finally Cooke says he is comfortable with work he has done to change style in past three years and he must go back to that foundation now.

— Shawn Roarke (@sroarke_nhl) May 7, 2014

From the Chicago perspective, ‘Hawks players didn’t seem overly concerned about the possibility of Cooke drawing back in. Patrick Kane told the Sun-Times that Cooke “probably knows better now” about throwing dangerous and dirty hits.

Related

Cooke: I didn’t intend to collide knee-on-knee with Barrie

NHL suspends Matt Cooke for seven games

Poll: Did the NHL get the Cooke suspension right?