August 5, 2001

How many people know who Matt Cooke is? Not many I guess. He plays for the Vancouver Canucks, a fourth liner. In puck talk, you could say that he's young, persistent, hard-nosed, does the work in the trenches, he's an agitator, pops in the odd goal now and then. Last season he made the lowest salary in the NHL, somewhere between 300000 and 400000. In Canadian dollars no less. He had negotiated his own contract, without an agent. Handshake agreement, that sort of thing. The way it was done in the old days. He certainly could have gotten more if he wanted to, and if he had hired an agent. Did he get gypped?

'Cookey' did the smart thing. He made himself more valuable than he was. Two years ago, he was on the brink of the bigs. He was one of those guys who were on the edge. Always in danger of being shipped to the minors. He hadn't yet established himself as an NHLer yet. How could he stick in the big club? His talent level perhaps wasn't enough to push him over the top. There were others in his same position, with more talent. Harold Druken, Josh Holden, Artem Chubarov. Matt knew that what he'd have to do, was win the support of management and of the city. He did that by becoming the lowest paid guy in the league. To general manager Brian Burke, he was now a valuable asset on a very budget conscious team. A certifiable fourth liner who would play for peanuts. All other things being equal.......who are you going to want? The cheaper guy of course. To the rest of the city, Cooke endeared himself both by being the lowest paid player, negotiating his contract the old fashioned way, and by his style of play. His skills developed as he got to play every day. He scored more goals, and continued his abrasive playing style.

So, two years ago, Cooke was on the edge of the team. Now he's a fan favourite, solidly in the lineup and up for a new contract. How much you wanna bet he's no longer going to be the lowest paid in the league?