Steve Downie

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size = 200px
position = Right Wing
shoots = Right
height_ft = 5
height_in = 11
weight_lb = 200
team = Philadelphia Flyers
league = NHL
prospect_team =
prospect_league =
nationality = Canada
birth_date = birth date and age|1987|4|3
birth_place = Newmarket, ON, CAN
career_start = 2007
draft = 29th overall
draft_year = 2005
draft_team = Philadelphia Flyers

Steve Downie (born April 3, 1987, in Newmarket, Ontario) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He plays right wing for the Philadelphia Flyers in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career

Downie was selected in the first round, 29th overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. Downie was suspended for five games early in the 2005–06 OHL season for on-ice altercations with a teammate during practice. Downie blindly cross-checked and then fought teammate Akim Aliu during practice on September 28, knocking out three of Aliu's teeth. ^{[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFMDWuepG7Y]} The incident stemmed from 16-year-old Aliu's refusal to take part in a hazing incident, which involved rookies being forced to stand naked in a cramped bus bathroom. The team suspended Downie for five games and Aliu for one, and Downie was told to undergo professional counselling. Head coach Moe Mantha was suspended by the OHL and later fired by the team, and the team was fined $35,000 by the OHL. ^{[http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2005/10/18/ohl_spitfires051018.html]} Downie left the team and requested a trade, and was eventually traded from the Windsor Spitfires, going to the Peterborough Petes in exchange for Peter Aston.

Brent Sutter named Downie to the Canadian World Junior Team for the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He made a name for himself in Vancouver where he was a contributor to Canada’s gold medal-winning effort, scoring two goals and four assists in six games and being named to the all-tournament team.

On May 30, 2006, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that they had signed Downie to a three-year entry-level contract. “It is unbelievable,” said Downie in a Flyers press release. “ [Signing with the Flyers] was one of the goals that I had set at the beginning of the year and I am just very thankful for this chance. I’m a gritty, physical player and I also am an offensive player as well.”

After attending Flyers' training camp in the fall and playing in several pre-season games, the club returned Downie to Peterborough.

Downie returned to the international stage yet again in December of 2006. He participated at the 2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Leksand and Mora, Sweden. On January 5, 2007, Team Canada won the gold medal for the first time on European ice since 1997, with a 4–2 defeat over Team Russia. Throughout the whole tournament, though, Downie was involved in trade rumors. He was speculated to be traded to the Kitchener Rangers, London Knights, Saginaw Spirit, Windsor Spitfires, or Sudbury Wolves, and on January 8, 2007, Downie was traded to Kitchener in exchange for Yves Bastien, the Rangers' second-round picks in the 2007 and 2008 OHL Priority Selections, as well as the 2007 second-round pick of the Brampton Battalion.

Suspension

During a September 25, 2007, preseason game against the Ottawa Senators, Downie was involved in an incident in which he checked left winger Dean McAmmond. Downie hit an unsuspecting McAmmond, catching him with his head down. Due the extent of McAmmond's injury and that he had left his skates in the hit, Downie was suspended by the NHL, as they were cracking down on any play resulting in a head injury. [http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=219200&hubname=]

On September 28, 2007, Downie was suspended by the League for 20 games. To date, it is the fifth longest suspension given by the league. [http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=219415&hubname=] [http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/261665]

On September 29, 2007, The Philadelphia Flyers announced they had sent Downie down to the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms. Downie was considered automatically ineligible to play pending a review by the AHL. AHL commissioner David Andrews had the option to uphold the NHL's suspension, change it, dispense with it completely. [http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=219521&hubname=nhl] In the end, Andrews ruled that Downie was ineligible to play in the AHL for one month from the start of the 2007–08 season. [http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=219730&hubname=nhl]

NHL

Downie made his National Hockey League debut on December 5, 2007 against the Minnesota Wild.

He scored his first NHL goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 5, 2008.

Awards

*2006: Gold Medal (2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships)
*2007: Gold Medal (2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships)

Career statistics

Personal

*Downie's father died in a car accident when Downie was only seven years old while driving to a hockey practice. [http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/Junior/2005/11/29/1328907-sun.html]
*He is deaf in his right ear due to the hearing disorder otosclerosis and wears a hearing aid.

International play

Played for Ontario in:
*2004 World Hockey Challenge

Played for Canada in:
*2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
*2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

International statistics

External links

*hockeydb|76798
*TSN-NHL-profile|5180
* [http://www.windsorspitfires.com/viewcon.php?id=7 Spits Rookie Steve Downie named to Ont. Under-17 - 11/20/03]
* [http://www.tsn.ca/chl/news_story/?ID=142608&hubname= Petes gets stronger with Downie's arrival - 11/12/05]
* [http://www.kitchenerrangers.com/NewsStory.aspx?ID=959 Rangers Land Downie From Petes - 01/08/06]