page_title: Steve Downie
section_title: Professional
hierarchical_section_title: Steve Downie / Playing career / Professional
caption_attribution_description: English: Steve Downie of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates at home against the Carolina Hurricanes at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL on 3/23/2010.
context_page_description: Steve Downie is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League for the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins and Arizona Coyotes, with the Flyers having drafted him in the first round, 29th overall, in 2005.
context_section_description: In his first full professional season in 2007–08, Downie's professional career got off to an inauspicious start during a pre-season game against the Ottawa Senators on September 25, 2007. He was involved in an incident in which he checked unsuspecting left winger Dean McAmmond into the boards, while his 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. 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 honours NHL suspensions). AHL President David Andrews suspended Downie for the first month of the AHL season as a result of the injuries to McAmmond.
  After serving his suspension in the AHL, Downie made his long-awaited NHL regular season debut with the Flyers on December 5, 2007, against the Minnesota Wild. He scored his first career NHL goal over one month later, on January 5, 2008, against Andrew Raycroft of the Toronto Maple Leafs. During the game, Downie got into a scuffle with Maple 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. During a game against the New York Rangers on February 9, 2008, Downie was hip-checked by Rangers defenceman Fedor Tyutin, and his skate hit linesman Pat Dapuzzo in the face. Dapuzzo required 60 stitches to reattach his nose, suffered ten facial fractures and was forced to retire as a result. During the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 13, 2008, Downie hit Petr Sýkora as the play ended on Ryan Malone's goal that gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a 3–1 lead. Sýkora did not have the puck when Downie hit him.
  In the following season, 2008–09, Downie initially made the Flyers' opening night roster before being later demoted to Phantoms. On November 7, 2008, Downie was traded by the Flyers to the Tampa Bay Lightning, along with Steve Eminger, in exchange for defenceman Matt Carle. Downie was immediately assigned to Tampa Bay's AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals, before he was recalled and made his Lightning debut in a 4–2 defeat against the Minnesota Wild on November 28, 2008. Downie continued to split the season between Norfolk and Tampa Bay, and his reputation for unnecessary aggressive behaviour was further developed on February 28, 2009, after he slashed a linesman, Mike Hamilton, 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, the penalty carried an automatic 20-game suspension, which was Downie's second lengthy suspension. He would later make his return in the NHL regular season finale game for the Lightning.
  In the 2009–10 season, with the intention to curb his on-ice aggression positively, whilst under the influence of former agitator and then-Lightning Head Coach Rick Tocchet, Downie played his first full season in the NHL and recorded a career-high 22 goals and 46 points. Downie also became the first player since Theoren Fleury in 2002 to score 20 goals and record over 200 penalty minutes in a single season.
  In March 2010, Downie was fined for a hit on the Pittsburgh Penguins' 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 NHL season, he was then selected to participate in the 2010 World Championships for Team Canada.
  Prior to the commencement of the 2010–11 season, on August 25, 2010, Downie re-s
caption: Steve Downie with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010.
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