If you planned to put together a list of the NHL’s most controversial active hitters, Raffi Torres and Matt Cooke may very well jostle for the top spot. Perhaps it makes sense that Torres feels for his fellow polarizing winger, then.
The San Jose Sharks forward had an interesting analogy for how people view Cooke, as CSNBayArea.com reports.
“I think he’s done a heck of a job the last couple of seasons to re-establish his game,” Torres said. “But with the media getting involved and especially social media, they make him out to be a serial killer. It’s kind of painful when you have to read that kind of stuff. I’m sure his family and close friends have to read that kind of stuff.”
It’s interesting that Torres, 32, would make such a comparison in defending someone else. After all, when he was a member of the Phoenix Coyotes, his former GM Don Maloney reacted to the outrage of Torres’ hit on Marian Hossa by saying, “You would think Raffi murdered a bus load of children the way he’s portrayed here in Chicago.” (Naturally, he would come to regret that statement.)
So, basically, one over-the-top assessment for another?
Regardless, Torres seems to empathize with Cooke’s feeling of throwing a lot of hard work away with that knee-on-knee hit with Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie.
“I’m sure he felt brutal in that moment [Monday] night, thinking, ‘What did I just do? All that work goes down the drain,’” Torres said. “He’ll take what he gets and I’m sure he’ll be back being an effective player for them in the future.”
Here’s video of the Minnesota Wild winger’s hit on Barrie, which will reportedly sideline the Avs blueliner for four-to-six weeks: