The Whalers targeted Downie all series long. They checked him from behind. They slashed him. They speared him. The Whalers broke out every dirty trick in the book to get Downie off his game, but it never quite worked out. April 8th, Downie got into a fight with Jared Boll (6'3" 195lbs) at the twenty minute mark, and was assessed a questionable instigator penalty. That instigator means an automatic suspension, but Branch deemed that the Ranger's could pay a fine in order to keep Downie on the roster. If Branch is willing to lift one of Downie's suspensions, you had better believe the offense wasn't all that sever.
On April 13th, Downie was booted for throwing a water bottle at a player in the third period, in a game where the Rangers were down 4-1. The team around him had already started talking about golfing, but Downie was having none of it. He wouldn't let the players talk about it on the bus prior to game five because the team, he felt, was still in it. In the end, though, the Rangers had thrown in the towel.
The only two times Downie was given a game misconduct, the game was either over or well out of reach. So no, friend, Downie does
not loose his cool when the game is on the line.
- Led the OHL is playoff scoring, despite playing one less game than second place John Tavares.
- Scored four or more points on three seperate occasions.
- Scored a point or more in every playoff game.
- Led all Kitchener Rangers in scoring with 22p in 9gp (Justin Azevedo was second with 15p in 9g).
- Of his 8 goals, 2 were game tying, and 3 were game winning.
I'd say so.
