Head Shots

The first point that must be made after the Steve Downie hit on Dean McAmmond last night is a sincere wish that McAmmond will recover fully and even if he can't play again that he should at least be able to live a normal life. The second point that must be made is that Steve Downie, like many other athletes in his position, is a liar. After the game, he responded to the media by saying that he did not wish to hurt anyone. Regardless of how clean or dirty the hit was, if he charged or elbowed or whatever, there is absolutely no way that he did not intend to hurt someone. At the very best of intentions, he considered that McAmmond could be concussed and thought he'd take that chance. More likely, he thought I can catch this guy with his head down and really lay him out. Much as when Colby Armstrong hit Patrick Eaves in a similar manner in the playoffs last year, these players know the consequences of their actions and choose to make the hit anyway. Armstrong's hit was not nearly as late and not nearly as blatantly targeting the head but he had left Saku Koivu and another player with concussions after similar hits earlier in the season. In both circumstances, when the player chose to deliver the hit they knew that there was a good chance that they were going to injure the targeted player. While not as farcical as Todd Bertuzzi's statement that he didn't intend to injure Steve Moore when he sucker-punched him from behind, Downie is clearly lying about his intentions.

It is those intentions that the NHL should respond to in considering a suspension for Downie. In no other league, including the equally violent NFL, can a player go outside the rules of the game and deliberately target an opponent without the league offices issuing a substantial reprimand. Think about the response of the league to Albert Haynesworth stomping on another player's head last year. He was suspended five games out of a sixteen game schedule. A similar number in NHL games would be in the 25 to 30 range. Suspensions of that length are rarely handed out and when they are it is to multiple offenders like Chris Simon or Dale Hunter for infractions that are seriously beyond the pail. I'm not suggesting Downie deserves twenty games but the league needs to do something to deter players from deliberately targeting opposing skaters. Anything less than an eight to ten game suspension will do little to deter future incidents. Just look at last year's playoffs, Chris Pronger was suspended one game for deliberately targeting Tomas Holmstrom's head in the Conference Final and proceeded to target Dean McAmmond in the Stanley Cup Final because he could be confident that he would not face harsher consequences.