Posted 6:31 PM ET | Comments 29

Filed Under:   flyers   nhl   senators   headaches   downie  

September 26, 2007 5:37 PM ET | Delete
Wow, you take homerism to a new level. You actually think the Schubert hit on Downie was worse than Downie's hit on McAmmond?

September 26, 2007 5:55 PM ET | Delete
Thank You. I knew I had seen that hit several times last season but I couldn't remember by who. Now I do, It was Colby Armstrong's signature move last season. Your links don't seem to work but here's one he put on Carter http://youtube.com/watch?v=z9RuldyPcIAI also remember the announcers defending Armstrong pretty vehemently too. If the hit wasn't by someone with a reputation like Downie's and is wasn't against someone on a Canadian team we wouldn't even be talking about it.

September 26, 2007 5:59 PM ET | Delete
So the million dollar question is, are you going to be a total homer on the issue and side with 95% of Flyer fans on the boards today and white wash the issue by comparing other player's actions/hits in the NHL or are you going to be a hockey fan and take a stance for what is right?

September 26, 2007 6:05 PM ET | Delete
I agree that kind of hit needs to be removed from the game and I was mad as hell every time I watched Armstrong do it. But you can't suddenly suspend someone for it when it is routinely allowed just because the guy who did it this time has a reputation. I hope this will be the catlyst for a rule change but you can't punish people until the rule is in place.

September 26, 2007 6:06 PM ET | Delete
"...also remember the announcers defending Armstrong pretty vehemently too""If the hit wasn't....against someone on a Canadian team we wouldn't even be talking about it. " So much for continuity in an argument. Last I checked, the Pens didn't end up moving to Hamilton.

September 26, 2007 6:07 PM ET | Delete
Schubert's hit on Downer was worse? That point alone killed any credibility you had Homer. No one (I've read) has said the hit was the "worst hit ever". You're missing the main point, Homer, which is that these kind of head hits should not be part of hockey -- no matter who does it -- be he a Flyer, Senator, Canuck, or.... I'm also sick, Homer, of buffoons like you BLAMING THE VICTIM. The position of the victim is a moot point as far as I am concerned. The only pertinant point is that head hits should not be part of hockey.

September 26, 2007 6:16 PM ET | Delete
Mob_slapman go back and read the comment again. Armstrong delivered similar hits last season and never caused a stir. Now that a canadian team's player is on the receiving end the canadian media is blowing it up into this big story. Downie's rep is probably helping to fuel that fire. Comprende?

September 26, 2007 6:37 PM ET | Delete
you homers really need to get your story straight before you start talking about how one hit is worse than another. for one, you wanna know what makes it worse than any of the armstrong hits.....it was a retalitation, he went down the ice looking to hit someone. another reason why it's worse. there was little chance of him making the team. he was trying to make a name for himself by taking someone's head off. the claims that its only an outcry because it happened to a canadian player are rediculious and thats by your own standards. does no one remember that armstrong put out patrick eaves in the playoffs last year with a hit in the same area of the ice. of course, eaves actually had the puck was so coming around the net with his head down trying to shoot. thats right, the homers dont remember that because they stopped watching hockey when the flyers were terrible last year. i do believe that mcammond had already passed the puck off a few seconds before the hit. hits to the head i guess are fine when it comes to the flyers. i do remember forsberg going into the corner last year and laying one on ryan malone after that hit that armstrong had on carter, but i guess that was okay because he was in a flyers jersey. head shots should be an immediate suspension no matter who they are.

September 26, 2007 7:03 PM ET | Delete
Eaves hit was completly different than the McAmmond hit. I didn't like it because it was Eaves, but actually, that was the best comparison to the Neil hit. An enormous hit where the guy got hit in the head. Wasn't a penalty according to the rules, but you have to wonder if it should be. Comparing the Armstrong hits to the McAmmond hits because one happened to be against the Flyers is incredibly off base. Then again, so is saying Schubert's hit was worse than Downie's.

September 26, 2007 8:05 PM ET | Delete
Quick don't diss the Flyer fan he'll jump into the penalty box and challenge you to a fight. What a garbage franchise for garbage fans in a garbage city

September 26, 2007 8:48 PM ET | Delete
The ULTIMATE in hipocracy is Flyers fans like you who try and defend this garbage and in the same breath will extoll how "dirty" The Stevens on Lindros hit is....

September 26, 2007 8:55 PM ET | Delete
What an assinine comment. Defending Downie's hit in any way is irresponsible. Playing the "if it wasn't a canadian team" card is spineless. That hit was a predatory attack by a player with a track record all through junior hockey of this kind of crap. The bottom line to all this is that one day someone is going to be maimed for life or worse. I don't care what side of the border you're on..that's what matters to me.

September 26, 2007 9:42 PM ET | Delete
Wah wah wah! What a bunch of cry babies. I have noticed most of the tears are Canadian. Colby Armstrong, Chris Neil, Steve Downie. Keep your head up. Oh, and by the way the Stevens hit was and elbow.

September 27, 2007 12:20 AM ET | Delete
That's cuz most of the hockey fans are Canadian.

September 27, 2007 12:30 AM ET | Delete
Stevens was all shoulder.......

September 27, 2007 12:48 AM ET | Delete
Downie broke every rule in one hit. Almost every player interviewed today agree. If you don't there;s something wrong with you. If you like watching people get hurt and have their careers ended because of garbage like this go get some help. This isn't some video game. These guys have a right to be safe while doing their job. The outcry from the players and coachs today was great. I hope the league listens and finally puts a stop to this. However, it will probobly take someone getting paralyzed or dying on the ice before people like you realize how idiotic this is...

September 27, 2007 7:52 AM ET | Delete
Were you even around last year when all of these hits happened? There was outrage over all of them. You're just crying becuase it's a flyer who could potentially take the fall, IF the league finally decides to do something about it. As a fan of the game, I agree that something needs to be done, due to timing it could very well be Steve Downie that is the final straw that generates action, and I certainly hope so in order to protect ALL players from (all) similar incidents.

September 27, 2007 8:46 AM ET | Delete
There are hits and incidents like this all the time and everytime there is one people cry out for this to be "the last time" ... seriously, the league just needs to examine the rules and make the changes that need to be made for the sake of the game and the players NOT IN ORDER TO MAKE THE GAME MORE MARKETABLE TO AREAS THAT DON'T WANT IT ANYWAY! ... designing new pug ugly jerseys in order to make the game faster, calling the smallest freakin wrestling aroudn in front of the net or along the boards in order to speed up the flow, and looking around in cities that don't have a proper winter are all really important right? ... when the gms and the board of goverors get together they should take a look at head-shots and stick infractions and the ramifications for breaking those rules ... make hockey better and stop trying to make hockey more attractive to people in Mississippi.

September 27, 2007 8:46 AM ET | Delete
Man, Homer, I have to agree with all the comments posted on ur homerism.

September 27, 2007 9:11 AM ET | Delete
Phoenix4 - One flyers fan making garbage arguments doesn't equal a garbage franchise. Look to your own city.JerZey_Dev - No one here said anything about Stevens until you did. The hit for all practical purposes ended the career of a diplomat of the game (much like all the crying out "what if it were sidney?"). Most in the flyers organization and fans on hockeybuzz have said this hit was not clean and Downie deserves a suspension of some sort. There is no debate there. This post goes over the line, no doubt. Uses hyperbole where it's not needed. That said, it raises a few valid questions. Why are the maple leafs more outspoken than any other team? Why was Armstrong never reprimanded after repeated head shots? Why does it matter whether or not Downie had a shot at the team (personally, I think he did)? Get over yourselves, flyers fans and haters alike, and realize that the reaction to this hit is atypical and deserves to be looked at. Oh, and using the word 'homer' over and over again makes you look like a jerk, no matter what you say.

September 27, 2007 9:36 AM ET | Delete
I stopped reading at 'Schubert''s hit was worse than Downie's...'. Get a clue before you write your own little blog. Fake outrage? Come on down to Ottawa and spend the weekend. Get a sense of this so-called 'fake outrage' conveyed by the media. I'm not really a revenge type of person, but boy I wish Grats had gotten to this kid properly.

September 27, 2007 9:39 AM ET | Delete
PS: I supported Armstrong in Round 1. I thought the hit was good on Eaves because...wait for it...he had the puck. I was a little upset that Eaves was hurt, but a hockey hit is a hockey hit, which Downie's was not.

September 27, 2007 10:10 AM ET | Delete
What was Downie's hit than if not a hockey hit? It wasn't completely legal, but he didn't use his elbow or his stick or get his helmet in there. What kind of hit was it?

September 27, 2007 10:32 AM ET | Delete
What separates the Downie hot from others of its kind is that he BOTH left his feet in order to use his body as a missile AND attacked McAmmond's head. What one will notice in Colby Armstrong's similarly brutal hits is that he does not leap into the opponent, but the momentum of the hit lifts him off his feet AFTER the hit has been completed. The Jeff Carter hit, which most resembles the McAmmond one, illustrates heavy shoulder to shoulder contact resulting in a follow-through that lifts Colby off his feet. The official was immediately in front of the play and deemed it a legal hit, whereas the official in the Downie hit dished out a match penalty, which rather convincingly shows that they were two different hits. The Letowski hit is, for me, the most disturbing of the Armstrong hits as it was head-only contact. It was legal, but very dangerous, which is attested to by Colby's own reaction; his play, particularly physical, dropped off after the hit because, in my opinion, he did not want that to happen again. The difference between a Colby Armstrong and a Cam Janssen or Steve Downie is that Colby can actually play hockey. Janssen is a cement-head who goes out of his way to deliver vicious hits to the head. That all being said, head shots of all kinds, including Colby's Letowski and Eaves hits, need to somehow exit the game, whether through concrete legislation or the return of mutual respect to the game.

September 27, 2007 10:43 AM ET | Delete
I don't know BuddyCram: bush league comes to mind. So does head-hunting, predatory, scary, sad. I'm not even sure where to begin to answer that question for you.

September 27, 2007 11:05 AM ET | Delete
I'll agree with the sad part. These hits happen. They're awful, no one is arguing that. The thing is, the NHL needs to set a definite policy concerning these hits the sme way it took a hardline on interferience and holding calls and not just make an example of a kid who has a decent upside to his game. He's won on the world stage and lead a little bit along the way for Team Canada and, for all his anger issues, has captained and been an alternate on teams he has won with. This guy has a some talent and really needs to reign in his wild side. He's not a complete sociopath. A suspension is in order, but a ban or to make an example out of him is not.

September 27, 2007 11:58 AM ET | Delete
you have to be kidding......the Downie hit was as cheap as they come....I know there are similar hits that do not get punished......but that doesn't matter......McAmmond is going to pay a long time price for it and here is hoping Downie gets what he deserves down the line....

September 27, 2007 12:14 PM ET | Delete
Let's face it. If it was the other way around (i.e. hitting a Flyer). There would not be this kind of outcry.

September 27, 2007 1:59 PM ET | Delete
Dropthegloves, don't flatter yourself with a "me against the world" stance. This situation extends past which team you cheer for.