There is nothing subtle about Matt Cooke. He is a block of granite who came back from a questionable 7-game suspension to take the Xcel Center ice for Game 4 in the Wild’s uphill battle against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks last Friday night.

It took him a couple shifts to feel in rhythm last Friday night, but then he hustled in to strip the puck from Chicago defenseman Michal Rozsival in the right offensive corner, barged toward the net, and fed the puck out to the right circle. Justin Fontaine wasted no time firing his shot, but by the time he shot, Cooke was at the crease, drawing a couple of escorts as he got to within handshake distance of goaltender Corey Crawford, who had no glimpse of Fontaine’s shot as it hit the net.

“He’s a playoff performer,” said coach Mike Yeo, talking about Cooke. “The way he created that first goal, and the way he makes plays...He’s a hard guy to play against.”

And his teammates are eacxh several inches taller when Cooke is in the game. Cooke was far from the only star in Game 4, but he was a force, every shift. On one shift, he flung the puck deep into the Chicago zone, just as Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson took a run at him. The collision was big, but Cooke didn’t flinch and Hjalmarsson wound up sprawled himself. Obviously, Cooke was as ready as he was anxious to return to duty.
“I went pretty hard when I wasn’t playing,” Cooke said. “I pushed myself, so when I got the opportunity, I’d be able to make the most of it. Then when the guys beat Colorado, I knew I would get the opportunity. It helped when I was able to get involved in the early goal.”

The Blackhawks tied it 1-1 in the last minute of the opening period, when Patrick Sharp raced around Mikko Koivu, who was caught back trying to play defense, and found an opening that didn’t exist against goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. Undaunted, the Wild regained the lead at 2-1 when Jason Pominville scored early in the second period.

Again Chicago tied it, with a deflection goal at 6:28 of the middle period, but Nino Niederreiter broke up the left side and beat Crawford with a great shot to the far edge just 44 seconds later, and the Wild was back on top 3-2., an ample reward for having outshot the Blackhawks 18-9 in the second period.

The third period was a montage of great work ethic and coach Mike Yeo’s master line juggling. First, though, there was Bryzgalov, coming up with the right formula to stop Sharp on a clean breakaway, then he stopped Marian Hossa, who swiped the puck from a tiring Ryan Suter and broke free.
It was back to tight checking in the third period, but when the Wild got a power play, Suter fed Mikko Koivu, who passed from the left point to Jared Spurgeon in the right circle. Spurgeon loaded up, took a good look, and drilled his third goal past Crawford at 3:47 of the final session for a 4-2 lead.

Bryzkalov stopped Jeremy Morin twice on point-blank tries, and Yeo went to work. After establishing Koivu with Charlie Coyle and Niederreiter on one line, Mikael Granlund centering Zach Parise and Pominville on a second, and a dazzling third unit with Erik Haula centering Cooke and Fontaine, the fourth line had Kyle Brodziak with Dany Heatley and Cody McCormick. Shifts were shortened, and Yeo seemed to be working under some cosmic force as he juggled players. He had Brodziak out there with Parise and Granlund one time, and countless other variations.

How was he determining who was fresh enough to go over the boards and play what amounted to modular line combinations?
“I had no idea what I was doing out there,” said Yeo. “We’re asking everybody to play a certain way, so it shouldn’t change a whole lot no matter who is out there. We want to be physical, and we want to play smart, but not safe.”

The constant juggling and the quick, 20-second shifts, kept the Wild fresh even after the exhaustive pace, and kept the Blackhawks off-balance as the Wild tied the series at two games apiece.
The first round of playoffs gave Minnesota hockey fans a lot of thrills, as the Wild lost twice at Denver, then beat the Colorado Avalanche in both Games 3 and 4 at Xcel Center. The talented Avalanche won Game 5, but the Wild prevailed in Game 6 at the X, then went to Denver and won Game 7 to complete a thoroughly captivating series.

When the Wild lost twice in Chicago to open the second round, Twin Cities columnists kept peppering their readers with the revelation that “The Blackhawks are not the Avs,” implying the Wild had an easy time with the Avalanche, but would have no such gimmes against Chicago. Apparently, they were unaware that Colorado’s inspired 7-1-2 finish allowed them to pass both Chicago and St. Louis to win the Central Division, while the Blues were second, and Chicago was third, six victories and five points behind.

“But they’re still the better team,” a columnist told me.
“I think the world of the Blackhawks, but they finished third in the division, and head-to-head, Colorado beat Chicago four out of five meetings this season,” I responded. “Maybe league standings don’t count, and head-to-head match-ups don’t either, but why insult Colorado in order to build up Chicago?”

True, players like Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp are all high-end players up front for the Blackhawks, but the Wild countered with Parise, Koivu, Pominville, Bsrodziak, a rejuvenated Heatley, and the prize Kiddie Korps of Granlund, Haula, Fontaine, Niederreiter, Coyle...and, of course, Matt Cooke.

It’s been a fabulous run for a challenging young team that seems to have matured and gained new cohesiveness right before our eyes in the playoffs.

John Gilbert has been writing sports for
over 30 years. Formerly with the Star Tribune and WCCO. He currently hosts a daily radio show on KDAL AM.