I’m not angry or spouting off just to spout – I’m just trying to offer something contrary to what most people think. I dunno why people mistake my comments for being out of control or something. I have faith, but I’m not even referring to what Avery did “instigator” wise. I’m referring to how he always seemed to have skating room, always seemed to be able to get a shot off, little things. They took the skill players out easily, but the grinders, and specifically, Antropov/Avery/Callahan, I think, was a line that, well, turned on Avery’s shoulders, and Cooke seems that kind of player. I see a line like Cooke – Staal – Talbot doing real damage if we don’t learn how to contain grinders.

Avery was good in game 7 until he started doing everything he could to draw a penalty, then he became a liability. When you spend more time looking at the ref with your hands in the air than playing hockey, you’re wasting time and turning the officials against your team.

He was one of our best players but there were times when his cheap stick shots could have seriously injured one of our guys. I don’t think Cooke plays like that though.

I dunno why there’s so much angst towards alternate viewpoints lately, but I’ll explain why I’m more afraid of Kennedy than Crosby.

I feel that for the Caps to win this series, we’ll need to shut down Crosby and Malkin. I’m sure everyone else knows that too. I feel we can contain Crosby, and limit his scope of damage. I don’t know if we can do the same for Malkin. Kennedy scares me because with all the pressure on Crosby/Malkin/Staal/Sykora/Guerin, he’s going to have a lot of icetime against tired or our lower defensemen.

Also, to answer previous question, Avery was the biggest reason, behind Lundqvist, the Rangers were in the series. Like it or not, the guy sparked his team, and the Rangers were clearly better with him in the line up, even if he kept taking stupid penalties, and when he was on the ice, not only was I terrified for our players safety, but for the Rangers to play better, particularly in game 7. I think Cooke could have a bigger impact than you want to believe, JP, maybe not on offense, but in the “Spear someone in the throat/face” kind of way. And like it or not, that crap happens in the playoffs, and you have to find a way to deal with it, because it’s obvious that a late hit that results in an injury means more and deserves a longer suspension (or a suspension, period) than a spear to the face, or a punch. That’s why Cooke scares me.