Cooke has advice for Kaleta

[doulos]

TSN posted this article today and I really enjoyed it. Matt Cooke has turned into an effective player who has changed his game after being public enemy number one.

I know some people will hate him forever, despite how he has changed, and so don't bother reading it as you won't enjoy it.

However, I personally really value a guy who recognizes he's made mistakes and actively takes steps to be a different person.

I think Cooke is one of the league's best stories.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=434297

[waddy1788]

Time will tell for Cooke. I hope he is being sincere.

[Pengwin7]

Good article.
I liked this line by Cooke.
"It's just a read. If you don't change the way you visually see the game, then change is impossible."

It really is a pretty impressive overhaul by Cooke.
Over time, a player's (unconsciously) whole-self establishes a pattern of how to react to an opposing player.
Hockey reactions/hockey-sense is like a first language... you don't have to think about what to do/say, it just happens quickly/instantaneously.

But Cooke retrained his mind to react differently.
And that makes the key difference.

It's why I've always been a big fan of two-way players & back-checkers.
Anybody can be good at back-checking, you just have to train yourself to understand the importance.
Some guys, like Kovalchuk/Grabner, could train themselves to do it for a month... and then always reverted back to cherry-picking.

Anyways... not trying to stir up a new debate on Kovy/Grabner, but just trying to emphasize how impressive it is for a player (Cooke) to completely re-work they way they THINK the game.

Pretty cool!

[littleranger]

But but but Karlsson!?!?

EDIT: I don't think he did it on purpose. Melynk just is a funny man.