The Philadelphia Flyers Bobby Clarke was interviewed on TSN's Off The Record and had these things to say about his draft pick and modern day clone, Steve Downie:
"When he went after Blake, I loved it. Blake was a guy who had no problem going out and saying (Downie) should be suspended for life or suspended for the year," he explained, referring to Blake's reaction last September to the McAmmond incident. "When you say something that stupid, why shouldn't this kid go after him for it?"
"The hit that Downie threw on McAmmond was not a whole lot different than the hits we all admired, including myself - that Scott Stevens used to do on open ice. He hit lots of heads and hurt lots of people and we said it was great. What Downie did was, it looked like Colin Campbell took it personally, (thinking) 'I told these players they couldn't do that and he did so I'm going to get him.' To suspend him for 20 games is ridiculous. McAmmond was a veteran player who was skating and watching his pass and got nailed. Sorry for it, too bad he got hurt but it was his own fault as much as it was Downie's."
1 comment:
I'm shocked, and couldn't disagree more.
The game has changed, and theres more stock put into the health of the players, even if it comes at the expense of the entertainment value of 'Stevens-esque' hits.
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