March 17, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Milan Lucic (17) handles the puck against pressure from Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik (44) and left wing Matt Cooke (24) during the third period at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Pittsburgh Penguins won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

During the Bruins-Penguins game, NESN announcer Jack Edwards (@RealJackEdwards on Twitter) fired an over the top broadside against Pittsburgh Penguins player Matt Cooke. “Nominating Cooke for the (Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy) is about the equivalent of nominating Sirhan Sirhan as the prisoner of the year.” To be completely fair to all parties, here is the entire rant from the game.

Yes, Jack Edwards (and members of Bruins Nation) are still a little bitter about what Cooke did a few seasons ago. So, did Cooke ‘assassinate’ Marc Savard? It’s not like Cooke’s hit ended Savard’s career.  Wait a second, it did.  As a Bruins fan, I can understand the perceived bias I may have, and perhaps I’m not being fair to Cooke.  Once again, in the name of fairness to all parties is Cooke ending Marc Savard’s NHL career. As a New Englander, I must be biased. So, I found a professional opinion on Cooke’s tactics.

So, perhaps I’m not offering enough evidence that Matt Cooke is a ‘dirty’ player. Here is a collection of cheap shots that Cooke has inflicted during his career in the NHL.

Oh wait, there’s more. At least Fedor Tyutin‘s career wasn’t ended by that hit.

I could be wrong here. I wonder what the NHL office has thought of Matt Cooke over the years.  Let’s add to the hit list Cooke’s attack (I’m sorry Mr. Shero, I meant the contact made by your player.) on New York Rangers player Ryan McDonagh. (Here’s a little more context.)  That hit finally inspired the league to lower the boom on him. That shot earned Cooke a ten game suspension plus the first round of the 2011 playoffs.

“Mr. Cooke, a repeat offender, directly and unnecessarily targeted the head of an opponent who was in an unsuspecting and vulnerable position,” said NHL senior executive vice president of hockey operations at the time Colin Campbell. “This isn’t the first time this season that we have had to address dangerous behavior on the ice by Mr. Cooke, and his conduct requires an appropriately harsh response”  What did Shero have to offer back then? In Shero’s own words, the hit against McDonagh was ”exactly the kind of hit we’re trying to get out of the game.”

With all of Cooke’s previous suspensions, infractions, and other just inappropriate plays, do you think Ray Shero might have taken the corresponding cheap shot with any dignity? Hardly. It didn’t take long for the General Manager of the Penguins to go ballistic. Perhaps Shero needed to take the hit on his player. (Or at least not go a medieval style witch hunt for Edwards in the Garden.) Shero felt morally wronged by Edwards. There was a discussion and Jack Edwards went on the air to apologize later for his comments. Jack Edwards also recanted his words on social media.

I am sorry for insulting Matt Cooke, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the National Hockey League, and anyone else upset by my Cooke comments.

— Jack Edwards (@RealJackEdwards) April 20, 2013

So, Jack Edwards crossed a line.  He knew it, and he apologized on the air and to cyberspace. With all the tragedy coming out of Boston, I was kind of expecting Jack to give someone both barrels.  Jack has never been sparing with his comments over the years. I’ve commented on his bias at times. I’ve also commented on how Jack Edwards isn’t just a hockey commentator, but just another fan who loves this sport with a passion few of us can muster. (For example, the ‘It’ speech.)

Jack Edwards did not attack an innocent party though. While Matt Cooke is no Sirhan Sirhan, it is obvious that he will never win the Lady Byng.

In the last few years, Shero (and Cooke) have made attempts to rehabilitate the winger’s image as a clean, and thoughtful player. Perhaps they were successful in a ‘de-gooning’ of Cooke?

So, let us review the recent activities of this ‘clean and thoughtful’ player. On February 13, 2013, Cooke was involved in an incident with the current holder of the Norris Trophy Erik Karlsson.  During that game against the Ottawa Senators, Karlsson’s achilles tendon was cut by Cooke’s skate as the two made contact along the boards. Did the ‘clean and thoughtful’ player get any suspension for that hit?

No.  Since the Penguins GM is so distraught over Cooke, let’s see what the Senators front office had to say about it. Senators owner Eugene Melnyk was outraged by the incident, stating “To have him [Karlsson] taken out by a goon is unconscionable. It’s something that never should have happened. This player [Cooke]should never be playing in this league. It’s a league for elite players”.

The end result is that Matt Cooke hasn’t learned his lesson. The only thing I can see is a player that has gone out of his way to make his plays look cleaner. It reminds me of painting a house after a fire. Sure, a nice veneer will cover the soot and the scars, but the dirt will always be there.

Jack Edwards poses with his puppy and the Stanley Cup. Mandatory Credit: Jack Edwards via his Twitter page (@RealJackEdwards).

He once glowingly asked everyone out there in TV land, “And who has more fun than us?”

Well, last night Boston Bruins play-by-play caller, Jack Edwards, showed everyone around the world that not many people have more fun at their job than him.

Allow me to fully explain. The B’s had been trailing the New York Rangers 3-0 to start the 3rd period last night at the Boston Garden, but as we all know by now the boys in black and gold had a furious comeback while scoring two goals late in the game to tie it at 3 a piece. The Garden was rocking and the game was headed to overtime.

The New England Sports Network (NESN) who covers all the Bruins action then cut to commercial and then when they came back we got one of the greatest moments in the history of sports announcing:

Now, I’m already a big Jack Edwards supporter so my opinion may be a little biased (like Jack’s), however I absolutely loved his reaction to Brad Marchand‘s game-tying goal. Does it make him a homer? Absolutely, but it also shows he’s a fan like the rest of us.

Many call Jack a homer because of his biased towards the B’s but I get it. The guy is paid by NESN to cover the Bruins and he happens to be a big fan, I guess that makes him a “homer”. I mean, it’s not like he’s working for the NHL Network or NBC Sports covering the NHL, he’s covering the B’s and plays to the hometown crowd because he is a part of the hometown crowd.

Sure at times he’s way out there and his partner Andy Brickley has to reel him back in or set him straight. But for the most part he is engaging and thoroughly entertaining.

With all that said, I’d just like to say that Jack can call B’s games for me as long as he wants. I love his enthusiasm, quirkiness and overall love for the sport of hockey. I’ll take him over Dale Arnold or Tom Caron anyday. Just keep talking Jack, and I’ll keep listening.

Not to mention Mr. Edwards is responsible for one of my favorite moments in the history of sports. Everyone remember this beauty of a tirade after the B’s eliminated the much-hated Montreal Canadiens from the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs?

Dec 31, 2011; Dallas, TX, USA; The Dallas Stars take on the Boston Bruins in front of a sellout crowd at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeated the Bruins 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Here it is.

On, November 19 1863, when the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was being dedicated, President Abraham Lincoln was asked to speak a few words at the ceremony. He had been invited as an afterthought. Edward Everett was the primary speaker that day.  Everett, a Unitarian clergyman went on to speak for over two hours. His speech was some thirty plus pages long.  After Everett had finished speaking, it was the President’s turn.  He spoke under three hundred words, and immortalized himself for all time.  Everett was said to have told Lincoln that the President had done a better job in two minutes than he had done in two hours.

Two minutes. When I was being brought into the wonderful world of hockey, my co-workers just let me sit back and soak it all in. I admit Jack Edwards was an acquired taste.  The first time I heard him doing color commentary I asked my friend if he was like this every game, or did he drink a gallon of coffee just before being given the microphone. My friend chuckled and told me this was Edward’s on a slow night. Oof! I wasn’t sure about him.  His commentary (and occasional mid-game rant) did start to grow on me. The hockey neophyte in me enjoyed having a fan who could “talk down at my level”. My impish side like the way he could say things on the air that would get other people a not-so-friendly call from the FCC.

I came to realize he was as big of a fan as my friends were. He wears his black and gold partisanship as a badge of honor. In the last sixty days, everyone in the hockey world has had their say. Lowly bloggers like myself to owners and the players, all of us have put up a nearly endless amount of type and blog to express our feelings on the second longest work stoppage in the NHL’s history. Then, Jack Edwards got on the air the other night and delivered the ‘It’ monologue. The speech lasted but two minutes. That speech summed up a lot of our frustration, anger, and sadness.  Jack was there with us, feeling the pain and anger alongside us. This was a man who understood just how fed up we were, and he shared his own pain with us.

A little over the top comparing these two speeches you say? Maybe. It’s Jack Edwards though, and I doubt he would object to having the phrase ‘a little over the top’ connected to him.