Steve Downie, 20 year old trying to make the Philadelphia Flyers roster decided to clock Ottawa Senators' Dean McAmmond. the result-the NHL has suspended the player for 20 regular season games. It's on Youtube.
Thoughts? fair game or fair play?
Downie has been clocked many times himself. Part of the game or no part?
It was an incredibly dirty hit that has no place in Hockey. He should have gotten more than 20 games. Hitting a guy is one thing but jumping off your skates to hit him is way out of bounds.
well Hockey in general has a pathetic history when it comes to regulating/enforcing violence and unsportsmanlike conduct in the game. Referees are there for a reason.
That being said, hitting is part of the game, that isn't going to change (hopefully).
So the issue here for me isn't the hit. You can have a perfectly legitimate hit that produces a "bell ringer" as well.
Downie is clearly at fault here. Yet his stock value in the NHL has risen considerably since the incident.
