With the Penguins scheduled to play in Boston next Thursday night, the thought on the minds of a lot of fans is revenge. The fans are, understandably, upset that Matt Cooke, with one blindsided swoop, seriously injured Marc Savard and may have ended the forward's season.
Yet NESN analyst Mike Milbury said in a radio interview that taking such revenge is something the Bruins need not seek.
"That's just ridiculous," he said on WEEI's Dale and Holley Show. "Are we that demented? Is that the way we have to approach this sport? I don't think so. … To say that because your best player went down you have to immediately turn around and go after vigilante justice is Neanderthal. We've got to get past that.
"To think we have to go back to, 'They hurt one of our best players, so now we're going to go take out Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby by giving them cheap shots in the back of the head,' that's Philadelphia Flyers hockey in the '70s. We're past that. We should be past that, and if we ever revert to that, it's the day I stop watching the damn game. Because that isn't right. It's just not right."
Milbury also added that he didn't think Cooke's hit was obscene but the Bruins still should have responded.
"Your best offensive player goes down with a resounding check, [a] borderline check under any circumstances, maybe cheap, maybe intentional," he said on WEEI. "It requires a direct response immediately. The guys that are there have to recognize that there's been a code violation, if you will. … They should have gone right after the perpetrator or even gone after anyone else that was on the ice to rattle the cage. You can't be taken advantage of that way.
"The players on the ice have to look in the mirror after this is over and say, 'Dammit, we should have done something. We should have done it right away.'"
