On March 7, 2010, Pittsburgh Penguins bruiser Matt Cooke delivered a blindsided blow to the head of unsuspecting Boston Bruins forward Marc Savard.
The results of the hit for both players were polar opposites. Cooke didn't receive a penalty or suspension for the hit, while Savard was diagnosed with a Grade 2 concussion that caused him to miss significant portions of the 2010-11 season.
Cooke told The Athletic's Joshua Kloke that if he could change one thing about his career, it would be the hit on Savard.
"At the time, to survive the game, I felt like Matt Cooke the player was the guy that made the middle of the ice harder for people to get to," Cooke said, per Kloke. "Now, there's a specific rule in place that I would have been suspended for a lot of games for that hit. But at the time, legally within the game, I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't get a penalty and I wasn't suspended. I hate the fact that Marc was hurt."
Story continues below advertisement
The silver lining, if any, is the hit did help lead the way to the creation of Rule 48 regarding blindsided hits.
More Bruins
Cooke admitted that he never spoke to Savard even though he claims to have tried to contact him for some time after the incident, and it's not part of his past.
"I haven't thought about it in a long time," Cooke told Kloke. "Back then, I wanted to apologize. I wanted to tell him it wasn't personal. I could have been Milan Lucic who crossed the middle. The play would have been the same."
Even though Savard played his last game in January 2011, he officially retired from the NHL on Jan. 22, 2018. He is now an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames.
Story continues below advertisement
Cooke's playing career ended after the 2014-15 season. He was hired as the head coach of the Newfoundland Growlers in the ECHL. The Growlers are affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Featured image via Jean-Yves Ahern/USA TODAY Sports Images
