I don't mean to be argumentative, but Scott Stevens routinely went for the head, and was celebrated as throwing clean hits. Maybe the league has changed since then, but it always bothered me that Stevens knocking peoples heads into next year was always a "clean hit."
As a side not Richards laid a hit almost identical to the one Cooke did in this video, he got 5 mins, and sat the rest of the game. No suspension and no fines. Maybe if he were a Penguin the refs would turn a blind eye
To me it looks like Richards intended to hit his body, but missed. I say that because of the way he fell after the hit. Cooke looks like he knew he was only going to get the head, and skated right threw it.
Richards hit: