It only took Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke a little over a month to find himself in hot water yet again.
Early in the third period of today's game against the New York Rangers, Cooke landed an elbow to head of Ryan McDonagh that drew a five-minute major and a game misconduct.
McDonagh was not injured and played the remainder of the third period as New York scored four times in the final frame to win 5-2.
Between Cooke's four-game suspension last month for his hit from behind on Fedor Tyutin of the Columbus Blue Jackets, his repeat offender status and head hits being the focus of the GMs meetings this past week, the opportunity is ripe for the NHL to send a message here, right?
If you're hoping yes, you'll likely be disappointed in whatever decision Colin Campbell comes to. Every time you believe a "message" is coming, whether it's for Trevor Gillies, Rick Rypien or Cooke previously, the discipline process fails you. That's the one thing that's consistent in that process.
Cooke will be suspended for this elbow and while there's thought of having him sit for Pittsburgh's remaining 10 games, we'll predict six or seven from the Wheel of Justice.
(By the way, we spun the Wheel of Justice on the fantastic NHLWheelOfJustice.com and Cooke was given a pass as it was determined to be a "hockey play".)