Downie's warming the bench...at least for October.

The Steve Downie saga continues.

The NHL hit Downie with a 20 game suspension last week. Then Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said that the team would deal with the suspension in chunks, by sending Downie down to the AHL to play, and then calling him up to the big team when the Phantoms weren't playing. This way Downie could serve his suspension while still playing hockey.

Creative? Yes.

Screwed up? Absolutely.

The AHL responded by issuing Downie with a 1 month suspension, making him eligible to play in early November. How do the Flyers respond? By calling him up to the roster, of course. If Downie can't play in the AHL, then he might as well start serving his NHL suspension.

You have to give credit to the AHL for actually doing something, and not completely welcoming Downie with open arms. I'll take this over nothing. However, I would rather see the AHL saying to Downie, "If you aren't eligible to play in the NHL due to suspension, then you won't be suiting up for our teams." As it stands, Downie can start playing hockey again before his 20-game suspension is over.

The NHL's attitude in the last week has been, "Oh, we're definitely doing something about shots to the head. We can't have this happening in our game because guys are getting hurt." Right...I'll believe it once they prove it.

Downie means nothing to the NHL.

Let's see what happens when Chris Pronger does the same thing. Will the NHL lay down the law, or will they buy the, "Oh, but I'm so tall and he's so short so he just ran into my arm," excuse?