Update 1:53pm ET:
Pettinger was just interviewed on TSN. Didn’t have much to say but that he brings a physical presence to the team. And that he scored 20+ goals a couple years ago.

I know very little about the guy (Caps fans want to educate us Canuck fans?) but I will miss definitely miss Cooke.

Update 2:03pm ET:
The Canucks have put out a generic press release confirming this trade. Now I’m just waiting for comments from Cooke who hasn’t been interviewed by anyone in the media yet—at least that I can find.

Update 4:09pm ET:
I just came by this mp3 audio file of comments by Matt Pettinger in a teleconference with the Vancouver media. I haven’t listened to it all yet, so I’m not sure if there are any big revelations—although he does mention that he didn’t get along well with the Capitals coach.

Update 5:29pm ET:
Jason Botchford at The Province suddenly remembered he had a blog today after 5 weeks off it, and just in time to take some parting shots at Matt Cooke on his way out the door. Classy stuff (I mumble, sarcastically) but perhaps worth a read to get the perspective of an ‘expert’.

Sigh. Maybe I shouldn’t be a smartass, but geez… I know Cooke wasn’t everyone’s favorite but having been drafted by the Canucks in 1997, he’s spent his entire NHL career here. I can live with this trade and understand why it probably had to happen, but I’m also going to miss the guy, too.

Best of luck to him, I say.

And now, onto Pettinger. Another player who has spent his entire career with the organization that drafted him, and like Cooke, had some ‘bonding issues’ with his coach.

Somehow I feel like I went to a swap-meet today. :)