Last night's game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals was only Matt Cooke's second game back in the lineup after his four-game suspension. Matt Bradley welcomed him back with a pretty solid hit in the corner during the second period.
Come for the hit, stay for the hilarious foreign pronunciation of "Cooke."
The fact that Jordan Staal jumps Bradley after the hit is pretty ironic, I think we can all agree. We know from HBO 24/7 that Dan Bylsma and his coaching staff make standing up for teammates a point of emphasis, but I mean... this is Matt Cooke we're talking about here.
The hit wasn't even all that dirty, either. Bradley received a charging penalty on the play, and that was totally fair since he definitely took several hard strides before holding up maybe half an inch away from the point of impact. Still, I don't think you'll find anybody apologizing, nor will you find anybody crying wolf.
It's a heck of a lot cleaner than most of Cooke's transgressions have been.