NYR469 said:
mcquaid clearly wasn't intimidated and didn't even flinch...but i don't know how he was able to just stand there and keep his cool. i think right after the tap on the side of the face by down my reaction in that situation would have been a nice spear to the groin and then repeated cross checks to the head driving his head into the ice until someone pulled me off...
he should be given alot of credit for keeping his cool and not hurting his team...of course if sudbury losses tonight then things might get real nasty on wed.
as far as a suspension goes though had mcquaid reacted then they probably would have suspended both guys, mcquaid for taking his head off and downie for initiating it but because mcquaid didn't respond downie gets away with it because nothing major came from it
He kept his cool because of a lot of reasons.
1. Last year he was cross checked in the mouth by Dan Carcillo and needed surgery. Later in the playoffs against Ottawa, he was hit into the boards and had his jaw broken. In March of this year against Ottawa, one of the 67s speared him in retaliation for something a Wolves player did to another 67s player. Now he has Downie slashing at his feet and raking his face with his stick. If Downie had dropped the gloves and stick, I think a fight may have taken place.
2. Earlier this season, Kaleta of the Petes and Hastings of the Wolves both dropped their mitts as the puck was dropped. Kaleta then turtled and Hastings not only had a major and game misconduct assessed, he was also suspended. Kaleta and Downie play the same type of game in that respect. I have no doubt that Downie would have done the same thing to McQuaid.
3. The Wolves had 27 penalties called against them in the game vs. Peterborough where this latest incident took place. The Wolves, once again this past season were the league's most penalized team. Mike Foligno has constantly complained about the refs this season because of course, nothing is ever his fault. And after this game, he blamed his players for taking all the penalties. How he had the audacity to berate McQuaid for not dropping them is beyond me, but it shows that McQuaid is quite a mature, smart player for standing there and doing nothing but chirp back at Downie when I'm sure he would have been happy to beat the snot out of him. McQuaid is a good fighter so it had nothing to do with him worrying that he'd get beat up. He's just had to deal with idiocies like this quite a bit.
I'm a Flyers fan and a Wolves fan but Downie's actions concern me because he crosses the line too often. I don't think anyone in the Flyers locker room is going to do anything to him because by all accounts in both Windsor and Peterborough, he gets along great with his teammates. But an opposing player will not be so kind!
Then you woke up and realized you're 5 foot nuthin' with tape on your glasses and that nobody in their right mind would believe that nonsense. 
