Former Pittsburgh Penguin Matt Cooke has been named the newest head coach of the East Coast Hockey League’s Newfoundland Growlers.

Cooke is now the fourth head coach in the team’s history, and brings along fellow former NHLer Adam Pardy as a Development Coach.

Cooke, a veteran of over 1,000 games, garnered a reputation as one of the league’s most controversial players. He played the role of a pest a little too well, often being criticized for several hits and plays he laid on the ice.

Over his NHL career, Cooke was suspended numerous times for head shots and knee on knee collisions. While in Pittsburgh, Cooke was suspended for a total of 25 games over four different incidents.

Perhaps Cooke’s most infamous hit was on Marc Savard, whose career was never the same after sustaining a direct hit to the head. Savard was stretchered off the ice and would only play 32 more games in his NHL career.

His hit on Savard was, by the book, legal at the time, but prompted the NHL to implement rule changes to try and prevent anything like that from happening again. As there was no rule against it, Cooke did not receive any discipline from the league, but was tarnished by the hockey media for his actions.

Nevertheless, Cooke built a 16 year career for himself at the NHL level, one that included 167 goals and 231 assists. While most notorious for his time as a Penguin, Cooke also played for the Vancouver Canucks (for the bulk of his career), the Washington Capitals, and Minnesota Wild.

Cooke also played a key role in Pittsburgh’s 2009 Stanley Cup victory.

The ECHL gig won’t be Cooke’s first experience coaching. Two years ago, he signed on to be a high school hockey coach for the Chaska High School’s boys team up in Minnesota, where Cooke finished his NHL career.

He guided the team to a conference championship and a 22-6 record in his inaugural year as a head coach.

Last year, Seth Rorabaugh of the Trib caught up with Cooke, who told Rorabaugh that he had a lot of fun coaching that team.

He told the Trib that he’s aware of his reputation, but that the coach Cooke is very different from the player Cooke.

“But anyone that’s ever taken the time to get to know me or understand me knows that’s not all that’s here,” he said. “I coach the game very differently than I played.”

“I want to be able to give each and every one of my kids the tactical tools to be successful,” he added.

Cooke is joining an ECHL team that is looking to build off a strong season last year. An affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, the Newfoundland Growlers finished 44-22-2, good for first in their division. The team made it all the way to the conference finals.

Kicking off play in the 2018-19 season, Newfoundland has won their division three of their four years they’ve played. The Growlers, as a team, opted out of the 2020-21 season due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

The Growlers open the 2023-24 season on Friday, October 20th.

(Featured image by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)