Flyers - Differing from Holmgren, Clarke says he 'loved' Downie's sucker punch

While Steve Downie's sucker punch of Toronto's Jason Blake wasn't well received by Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, Bob Clarke couldn't hide his delight.

"When he went after Blake, I loved it," Clarke, the Flyers' senior vice president and former GM, told The Sports Network of Canada on its "Off the Record" show.

Downie was playing in just his fourth NHL game after serving a 20-game suspension for blindsiding Ottawa's Dean McAmmond with a hit to the head in September. Blake, who had said that Downie should have been given a longer suspension, was being held by an official during a scrum Saturday when Downie popped him in the left eye. Downie was ejected and issued a league warning. Blake's eye was swollen shut, but he was not seriously injured.

"Blake was a guy who had no problem going out and saying [Downie] should be suspended for life or suspended for the year," Clarke said. "When you say something that stupid, why shouldn't this kid go after him for it? The kid did what every hockey player should do. If a player like Blake who's been around as long as he has wants to criticize a player, then he has to go on the ice with him and suffer the consequences."

The feeling among the Flyers players was that Blake ran Antero Niittymaki in net before the incident, and that Blake instigated the scuffle with Downie. They also felt that an extra punch thrown at the end of a fight while the officials are trying to separate the combatants is a normal occurrence in hockey.

But Monday, after a conference call between Holmgren and league disciplinarian Colin Campbell, Holmgren said he was upset at Downie for the punch.

"It's Jason Blake and [Blake] is not a fighter and he hit a player in that position," Holmgren said. "I don't think [Blake] even had his gloves off. I'm not happy about [the penalty] either, the fact that [Downie] put his team down at that time is a different issue. He can't afford to be doing that, either. That's a selfish thing."

Asked last night about Clarke's comments, Holmgren said it was a matter of opinion. "We're still living in an age where everybody is entitled to his own opinion," he said. "I didn't like what [Blake] said, either. I didn't think [the punch] was the right time and place."

Clarke, meanwhile, still thinks the 20-game ban was too long.

"My own personal feelings is that Colin Campbell overreacted," he said. "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."

On this point, the new and old GM were in line on one thing: "I was shocked it was a 20-game suspension, too," Holmgren said. *