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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 3067072" data-attributes="member: 2012">Cooke looks for new role with CanucksCanadian Press9/15/2006 7:55:21 PMVERNON, B.C. (CP) - Matt Cooke is healthy again after a year of battling injures and the scrappy forward is looking for a role change with the Vancouver Canucks.The question of who will play on the NHL team's top line along with Brendan Morrison and Markus Naslund has been asked ever since the Canucks traded forward Todd Bertuzzi to Florida in a package for goaltender Roberto Luongo.Cooke's name has been mentioned as a possible replacement, along with free-agent signing Jan Bulis."I'm going to have to go out there and earn it," Cooke said Friday on the first day of the Canucks training camp. "What we've done in the past is history. Your performance at camp is going to be your opportunity."Cooke managed eight goals and 10 assists last year in a season limited to 45 games because of injures. As a junior, playing with Windsor of the OHL, Cookie had 45 goals and 90 points in 65 games back in 1996-97."I was depended on a lot in junior to be a scorer," said Cooke, 28. "I knew I wasn't going to make the NHL that way. If I get the opportunity this year I look forward to that role."Naslund thinks Cooke deserves a chance to at least audition for the first line."I think he's shown he can play there before," said the Canucks captain. "He's always been in a situation where he hasn't been able to show that he's got skill and a touch around the net."He has the potential to play a different role."The five-foot-11, 205-pound native of Belleville, Ont., has carved out a reputation as a grinding, third-line agitator. Like that annoying dog down the street that barks all night, Cooke has the ability to get under other player's skins.He will deliver a stick in the ribs or an elbow to the chops, then use his speed to get away to get away before a player can retaliate. He plays with a chip on his shoulder an irritating grin on his face."We have a lot of other guys on the team right now in that role," said Cooke. "The focus isn't solely on myself to go out and create that distraction."The physical play will always be there because that is part of my game and a part of the game I won't let go."New Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said Cooke will get a chance "to have a bigger role" on the team. But he cautioned that to remain successful, Cooke can't completely abandon his in-your-face style."Even if he would go on an offensive line, I don't think he can change his style of play," Vigneault said. "If he all of a sudden thinks he's a skill player, he's going to be in trouble."He knows he has to play with grit, with drive, get in people's faces. That part of his game can't change."Cooke was moved up to the top line near the end of the 2004 season when Bertuzzi was suspended for his hit-from-behind on Steve Moore.He surprised many by playing well down the stretch. He stepped his game up in the playoffs and scored the goal that forced overtime in Game 7 of Vancouver's opening round loss to Calgary.Cooke came late to training  camp last year after holding out for a new contract. He finally signed a three-year deal, averaging US$1.5 million, but then spent more time in the infirmary than on the ice.He broke a jaw when hit in the face during practice, then suffered an ankle injury in a collision with a teammate. The final insult was a hip injury from a border-line check during a game against the Los Angeles Kings.Cooke said he worked over the summer getting back the conditioning he lost last year."I worked hard to make sure my conditioning was where it needed to be because I missed so many games," he said. "I just want to go out there and get back to the level I was a couple of years ago."A crowd of several hundred people showed up at the Vernon arena to watch 50 Canucks veterans and rookies hold their first workouts.It was Vigneault's first on-ice session with the veterans.Vigneault, who replaced the fired Marc Crawford, spent most of this time at centre ice watching the players. He didn't use a whistle  and rarely seemed to raise his voice when giving instructions."It was a different feeling out there," said veteran defenceman Mattias Ohlund. "We had the last coaches for so many years, we didn't know what to expect."Naslund said he likes Vigneault's style."I like what I've seen so far," he said. "I agree with what he's been preaching."</blockquote>

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