Steve Downie | |
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Steve Downie with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010. |
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Born | April 3, 1987 Newmarket, ON, CAN |
Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
Weight | 191 lb (87 kg; 13 st 9 lb) |
Position | Right wing |
Shoots | Right |
NHL team Former teams |
Tampa Bay Lightning Philadelphia Flyers |
National team | Canada |
NHL Draft | 29th overall, 2005 Philadelphia Flyers |
Playing career | 2007–present |
Steve Downie (born April 3, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player currently playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League.
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Downie grew up in Holland Landing, Ontario, the younger son of John and Anne Downie. He has a brother, Greg. He attended Sacred Heart High School in Newmarket, playing hockey for the York-Simcoe Express AAA organization of the OMHA. He also attended St. Joseph's Catholic High School in Windsor, Ontario in 2004. Downie led his Express Bantam team to the All-Ontario AAA Championship in April 2002. He was drafted in the 1st round (16th overall) by the Windsor Spitfires in the 2003 OHL Priority Selection.
Downie was selected in the first round, 29th overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. Not long after being drafted, Downie was suspended for five games early in the 2005–06 OHL season for an on-ice altercation with teammate Akim Aliu. During a practice on September 28, 2005, Downie blindly cross-checked Aliu in the face without warning, knocking out 3 of his teeth, and then proceeded to fight his younger teammate.[1] The incident stemmed from 16-year-old Aliu's refusal to take part in a hazing incident, where he would have been forced to stand naked in a cramped bus bathroom with other rookies. The team suspended Downie for five games and Aliu for one, and Downie was told to undergo professional counseling. Head coach Moe Mantha, Jr. was suspended by the OHL and later fired by the team, and the team was fined $35,000 by the OHL.[2] Downie left the team, requesting 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 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. 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.
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. During the game, Downie got into a scuffle with Leafs forward Jason Blake. While the linesmen were attempting to keep them apart, Downie got his left arm loose and sucker-punched Blake in the left eye while Blake's arms and hands were still tied up by the other linesman.[3] During a game against the New York Rangers on February 9, 2008, Downie was hip-checked by Rangers defenseman Fedor Tyutin, and his skate hit linesman Pat Dapuzzo in the face. Dapuzzo required 60 stitches and suffered a broken nose, and was forced to retire.
In game three of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 13, 2008, Downie hit Petr Sykora as the play ended on Ryan Malone's goal that gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead. Sykora did not have the puck when Downie hit him.[4] On November 7, 2008, Downie was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning along with Steve Eminger for defenceman Matt Carle.
In March 2010, Downie was fined for a hit on Sidney Crosby. Downie stated that Colin Campbell, league disciplinarian, told him it was a "dangerous play". Downie finished his first full season with 46 points in 79 games. After a successful season he was selected to participate in the 2010 World Championships.[5] On August 25, 2010, Downie re-signed with the Lightning on a 2 year bridge contract with $3.7 million.[6]
Downie has been suspended for several incidents, in addition to the Aliu incident mentioned above. During a September 25, 2007, preseason game against the Ottawa Senators, Downie was involved in an incident in which he checked unsuspecting left winger Dean McAmmond into the boards, while Downie's feet were off the ice. Due to the extent of McAmmond's injury and having left his skates during the hit, Downie was suspended by the NHL for 20 games three days later for deliberate injury to McAmmond, as the NHL were cracking down on any play resulting in a head injury. To date, it is the fifth longest suspension given by the league.[7][8] One day after the NHL suspension was announced, the Flyers announced they had sent Downie down to the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms. Per AHL by-laws, Downie was considered automatically ineligible to play pending a review by the AHL (as the AHL honors NHL suspensions). AHL President David Andrews suspended Downie for the first month of the 2007-2008 AHL season as a result of the attempted injuries to McAmmond.
On February 28, 2009, Downie, by this point playing for the Norfolk Admirals (the Lightning AHL affiliate), slashed a linesman in the shin following a controversial empty-net goal in a game against the Hershey Bears, receiving a game misconduct for physical abuse of an official. Under AHL rules, this penalty carries an automatic 20-game suspension, which would be Downie's second such lengthy suspension.
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
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Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
2002–03 | Aurora Tigers | OPJHL | 34 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2002–03 | York-Simcoe Express Min. Midget | OMHA | 14 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2003–04 | Windsor Spitfires | OHL | 49 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 90 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 27 | ||
2004–05 | Windsor Spitfires | OHL | 61 | 21 | 52 | 73 | 179 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 49 | ||
2005–06 | Windsor Spitfires | OHL | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2005–06 | Peterborough Petes | OHL | 34 | 16 | 34 | 50 | 109 | 19 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 38 | ||
2006–07 | Peterborough Petes | OHL | 28 | 23 | 36 | 59 | 92 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2006–07 | Kitchener Rangers | OHL | 17 | 12 | 21 | 33 | 32 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 15 | ||
2006–07 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2007–08 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 21 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 114 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2007–08 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 32 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 73 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
2008–09 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2008–09 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 4 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2008–09 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 23 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 107 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2008–09 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 23 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2009–10 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 79 | 22 | 24 | 46 | 208 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2010–11 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 57 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 171 | 17 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 40 | ||
NHL totals | 197 | 41 | 55 | 96 | 517 | 23 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 50 |
Played for Ontario in:
Played for Canada in:
Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
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2004 | Ontario | U-17 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
2006 | Canada | WJC | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 16 |
2007 | Canada | WJC | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 16 |
2010 | Canada | WC | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 28 |
Preceded by Mike Richards |
Philadelphia Flyers' first round draft pick 2005 |
Succeeded by Claude Giroux |