Matt Cooke will have to wait until at least today to find out the length of his probable suspension for a hit on Boston Bruins centre Marc Savard that left him with a grade two concussion.
NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell is participating in the annual general managers' meetings, where the biggest issue is dealing with hits to the head, and has not had time to review the hit by Cooke, who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"I'm not going to comment on it," Campbell said yesterday on the first day of the meetings. "We're not done with it."
Campbell noted the Penguins do not play again until Thursday, which gives him and the hockey operations staff time to review the hit and hold a telephone hearing with Cooke.
Savard was injured late in a game Sunday between the Bruins and Penguins. He had just taken a shot and was off-balance when Cooke came from the side and hit him on the head with his elbow. Cooke was not given a penalty for the hit.
Savard was taken off the ice on a stretcher and went to hospital. He was unable to fly home Sunday night with his teammates because of the concussion, but Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said Savard was able to fly home yesterday.
A concussion specialist met with Savard. The team is worried the centre will not be able to play for the rest of the season.
"He told me he's very tired, still has a bad headache and wants to go to bed," Chiarelli said.
The GM said the hit by Cooke was just the kind the league needs to eliminate from the game.
"Based on what I saw, it looked like this was the prime example of what we're talking about," Chiarelli said. "We may lose the guy for the rest of the year, I don't know."