Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Steve Downie is certainly no stranger to controversy, as the 21-year-old forward has been suspended multiple times in his young career for various acts of idiocy. On Saturday, Downie, currently playing for the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL, decided it had been too long since he did something ridiculous and was given a game misconduct during a game against the Hershey Bears for "physical abuse of an official." He's facing a 20-game suspension as a result.
Here's a brief recap from the Hershey Bears website:
With the BEARS leading 5-4, Chris Bourque was tackled from behind as he tried to shoot into the empty net, and was credited with his 15th goal at 19:46 although the puck never entered the net. HERSHEY took a 6-4 lead on the goal and essentially clinched the victory. Norfolk forward Steve Downie then returned to center ice for the face-off and slashed linesman Mike Hamilton across the right shin. Referee Jeff Smith assessed a game misconduct on Downie for physical abuse of officials under ruler 41.2 category one. The ruling calls for an automatic 20-game suspension. Norfolk has just 21 games remaining.Assuming the ruling does, in fact, call for a 20-game suspension, this will be the second 20-game suspension of Downie's career. In September, 2007, Downie received a 20-game banishment for launching himself at an unsuspecting Dean McAmmond in a preseason game.
Earlier this season, Downie was suspended three games for hitting Kyle McLaren from behind, and his resume of borderline plays is an impressive one. Some examples:
-- Steve Downie punches Jason Blake in the eye
-- Steve Downie melts down during his junior hockey days
The Lightning acquired him from the Philadelphia Flyers earlier this season, along with defenseman Steve Eminger, in exchange for defenseman Matt Carle. If Carle never does anything for the rest of his career, it's still a great trade for the Flyers simply because they no longer have to deal with Downie.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-02-2009 @ 4:50PM
wranglersm said...
Nice "unbiased" read. Were you there? And why are you only printing one side of the story? What you don't mention is that neither the Ads' coach or Hershey's coach even saw the penalty, and the Ads didn't even hear about it being a "match" penalty until after the game. Yeah, he's done some stupid things in the past, but he's proven over and over again this year that he's gotten his temper under control. Feel free to reserve judgment until AFTER the league has ruled.
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3-02-2009 @ 4:52PM
AdamGretz said...
In this morning's Newsmakers post ( http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2009/03/02/newsmakers-in-the-nhl-florida-power-play-pounds-washington/ ) I posted an article stating Tampa Bay's side of the story (an article that I hadn't seen when I made the original post).
And I'm not sure how his temper has been under control this year seeing as how he's been suspended this year (three games) for hitting Kyle McLaren from behind.
3-02-2009 @ 9:28PM
wranglersm said...
That "suspension" happened at the beginning of the season. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you don't get to watch every player of every team, so I can understand that you wouldn't know how well behaved he's been, how many fights he's walked away from, how many retaliation penalties he would have been justified in taking. Bottom line, NO ONE in Hershey saw anything or was told anything until after the game--the teams didn't know, the coaches didn't know, not even the Play-by-Play guys even knew about it. Definitely a situation blown way out of proportion simply because a guy has a history that follows him around and makes him a target.
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3-02-2009 @ 9:52PM
AdamGretz said...
I assure you if the AHL takes back this suspension and it turns out to be an overblown story I will put up another post and eat my plate of crow.
3-03-2009 @ 10:50AM
BearsFan said...
For "wranglersm": I was at that game sitting on the glass and witnessed it first hand. Downie made no effort to even hide the slash. He should have been charged criminally with assault! Yes he's got tremendous abilities and potential and yes, he's been through serious adversity but it doesn't excuse this conduct. It was a clear and unquestionable assault that caused injury to an official simply doing his job. Downie should be booted from the league!
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