Remember when Lucic skated into Ryan Miller and there was no suspension? Perhaps there should've been. Days later, Tootoo cuts toward the net, Ehrhoff pushes him from behind. Tootoo tries to avoid contact, but ultimately makes contact with Miller. Tootoo got suspended. Remember four or five Buffalo players dog piling on top of him throwing punches at his head? None of those players even received penalties.

Last night, Downie left his feet, injured a player, was held accountable by two Preds. Weber got a double minor. I'm not sure why Shea got four minutes. Bourque got nothing. Bourque was more in on the act than Downie. He didn't get a penalty. I think Hornqvist got two minutes for his reaction to the lousy call. I saw him yelling at the ref.

Last year Duchene scored a goal on a horrible oversight by the refs. A few years ago the Avs beat the Preds when Budaj came out of the crease and made contact with Hornqvist's skate while his screen helped the Preds score a goal in the last two minutes of regulation. Preds should've won that game 2-1. Instead, the Avs won 2-1 in overtime.

What is with the officiating versus the Preds in the Pepsi Center?

Clean hit and a beauty.
- systemtool

It was pretty

B/c Toronto is the model of excellence in the league.
- dgutzman

yes - absolutely.

and Toronto had to endure the idiocy of various fan bases describing "Kessel's attack on John Scott", which few if any saw happen live and fewer still seemed to watch the entirety of the video replay.

just because a fan knows absolutely nothing about hockey - doesn't mean that they should comment frequently about judgement plays that happen in a fraction of a second in real time....

ahhh yes.

Is Downie a dyck? I would suggest most would say yes. Does he have a history that is questionable... obviously even the biggest homer fans would have to say yes.

Did he crush Josi? yes... because Josi was navel gazing.... and Josi did what is becoming increasing prevalent AND SHOULDN'T in youth hockey - ducking to try and avoid hits.

great idea until you duck into someone's shoulder or knee.... usually - almost always referees at the youth level make the wrong - but popular call... head shot charging.

and just like this one... it wasn't either.

Remember when Lucic skated into Ryan Miller and there was no suspension? Perhaps there should've been. Days later, Tootoo cuts toward the net, Ehrhoff pushes him from behind. Tootoo tries to avoid contact, but ultimately makes contact with Miller. Tootoo got suspended. Remember four or five Buffalo players dog piling on top of him throwing punches at his head? None of those players even received penalties.

Last night, Downie left his feet, injured a player, was held accountable by two Preds. Weber got a double minor. I'm not sure why Shea got four minutes. Bourque got nothing. Bourque was more in on the act than Downie. He didn't get a penalty. I think Hornqvist got two minutes for his reaction to the lousy call. I saw him yelling at the ref.

Last year Duchene scored a goal on a horrible oversight by the refs. A few years ago the Avs beat the Preds when Budaj came out of the crease and made contact with Hornqvist's skate while his screen helped the Preds score a goal in the last two minutes of regulation. Preds should've won that game 2-1. Instead, the Avs won 2-1 in overtime.

What is with the officiating versus the Preds in the Pepsi Center?
- TerryB

Downie did not leave his feet ... at the point of contact his feet are clearly on the ice generating a snow shower.... look at the pictures.

Good hit - maybe 2 mins for leaving his feet at most. It would have been difficult for him to actually avoid him, and he has to make that hit, if not he would get it from the coach. (Hear the crowd....they loved a good body check as they should)
- CaliNewf

He didnt leave his feet. Went flying after the contact. Went for the body, 100% clean hit!

Watching it in real time though, I was 100% sure that it was suspension worthy but if you look at it in slow mo from the right angle...

Last night, Downie left his feet, injured a player, was held accountable by two Preds. Weber got a double minor. I'm not sure why Shea got four minutes. Bourque got nothing. Bourque was more in on the act than Downie. He didn't get a penalty. I think Hornqvist got two minutes for his reaction to the lousy call. I saw him yelling at the ref.

Last year Duchene scored a goal on a horrible oversight by the refs. A few years ago the Avs beat the Preds when Budaj came out of the crease and made contact with Hornqvist's skate while his screen helped the Preds score a goal in the last two minutes of regulation. Preds should've won that game 2-1. Instead, the Avs won 2-1 in overtime.

What is with the officiating versus the Preds in the Pepsi Center?
- TerryB

Waahhhhhhh

It was a clean hit cry baby. Preds deserved the PIMs for mugging him after the hit!

Waahhhhhhh

It was a clean hit cry baby. Preds deserved the PIMs for mugging him after the hit!
- Jaciems

You are incorrect. Unless Weber had put his fist inside Downie's skull by way of his sinus cavities, which he really, REALLY should have, four minutes was stupid. A guy can't get extra by how angry he is. As per usual in all pro sports these days...incompetent ref.

You are incorrect. Unless Weber had put his fist inside Downie's skull by way of his sinus cavities, which he really, REALLY should have, four minutes was stupid. A guy can't get extra by how angry he is. As per usual in all pro sports these days...incompetent ref.
- R4Z0R

I agree Weber shouldn't have gotten 4 minutes. It should have been 2 to Weber and 2 to Borque. It would have resulted in the same amount of powerplay time either way. The only difference is Bourque would have been in the box instead of whoever Nashville chose to serve the penalty.

let me be the first to drop the obligatory "it would have been a suspension if he was still a flyer" comment

While im a huge Pred's fan. I feel like your blog is a bit overboard. Downie has been extremely reckless in his career. Losing Josi sucks really bad. But this hit isnt as bad as every little girl is making it out to be. Im really tired of everyone also saying keep your head up. Your head cant be up every moment your on the ice. This is a contact sport. And a very fast contact sport. Id very pissed off if this was Doughty or Voynov. But we cant forget the dangers in the sport. People get hurt all the time from legal hits. Some hits are much more epic than others. Id also like to point out that Josi's head wasnt down.

Pretty soon we will have Flag NFL and Flag NHL. Or better yet. You might skin a knee or something. 2 hand touch NFL and 2 hand touch NHL

everyone is acting so soft..... just cause the hit is hard doesn't mean its a suspension.

Its unfortunate that Josi was injured but your blog is pretty overboard. Downie has become a much cleaner player throughout the years from who he used to be. The hit was clean, questionable at best.

Was really hoping you would be commenting about the game rather than this.

Gold colored glasses is right, I like how even after it was clearly broken down as to why the hit was a legal check and didn't warrant suspension you stick to your biased commentary.

Did he leave his feet before or during initial contact? No..

Did he lead with anything other than his shoulder? No..

Did he take more than three strides directly before the hit? No it was two strides..

Was the head the principle point of contact? No..

I will never be happy that a player is injured on another team, but it was a legal check, get over it and act like a professional.

The Preds simply stink, whether they have a fast, slow or medium paced start. Let's be honest about this. It ain't getting better, any time soon.
- systemtool

says the leafs fan....Playoffs 7 of the last 9 years...do your research before making idiot assumptions

If a hit causes a concussion, the player should be suspended.

B/c Toronto is the model of excellence in the league.
- dgutzman

Toronto is a FAR better team than the Preds are. Hate to say it, but it's very true.

Toronto is a FAR better team than the Preds are. Hate to say it, but it's very true.
- jmayfield

Yeah but they hit a rough patch on the way to success; like the one we are in now. Hopefully ours is less prolonged and can be reversed from our young talent playing well.