I know, it’s shocking to see on a Red Wings blog. I used to like the guy. I thought he was a good energy player, great for the locker room, and an all-around good guy. I liked having him on the Griffins because he brought leadership and a toughness that they lacked. He also brought a lot of experience.
All of that died tonight. Downey made a dangerous, stupid hit on a defenseless Moose player. He got called for it. He was very unhappy about getting called, so he skated passed another Moose player and two-handed him right in the gut. It was disgusting. I am not a fan of that type of play and don’t want it anywhere near either of my teams. He belongs on a team like Calgary, apparently. This was after a game in which he reportedly elbowed the opposing goaltender in the head, for which he should have been automatically suspended. Downey got two minutes for the dirty hit, and a ten minute misconduct. I wish they had suspended him, because then at least the Griffins could have dressed another player. With Downey in the box for ten minutes, they had only 17 skaters, and they are not that deep. Downey did nothing but hurt them tonight. I’m glad he got both the penalty and the misconduct. That sort of thing has no place in hockey, no matter who is doing it.