Cooke suspension sends a message

Add Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell to the list of players OK with the stiff punishment handed down by the NHL to Pittsburgh Penguins headhunter Matt Cooke.

A repeat offender several times over, Cooke was suspended for the rest of the regular season and first-round of the playoffs for elbowing Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh in the head on Sunday.

“Do I think the suspension is right? Yeah,” Campbell said on Tuesday. “Being on the competition committee before, I’ve always talked about head shots and it doesn’t mater if the guy’s hurt or not. It’s whether it’s necessary or deliberate. That was pretty deliberate.

“I think a lot of players would agree there’s no place for that in the league. It’s just a step in the right direction of trying to clean it up. I think the league and us as players have a long way to go.”

Many have been waiting for the NHL to hand out severe suspensions for head shots and not penalties such as the three-game slap on the wrist Tampa Bay defenseman Pavel Kubina got for a deliberate elbow to Hawks center Dave Bolland’s head on March 9.

Bolland remains out indefinitely with a concussion from the blow and the Hawks have no idea when he’ll return.

“Guys will learn pretty quick if you just have to do it once,” Campbell said. “Obviously, Matt’s done it a few times. I know he’s a great player for their team, but the league needs to put their foot down and suspend guys for the right amount of time and for long periods of time.

“We’ll learn quick as players, I guarantee that. Obviously, we need to be better as players to control our actions out there on the ice.”