source: therecord.com
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KITCHENER (Feb 27, 2007)
So you've got an immensely-talented hockey player with a dark side.
So you've got Steve Downie.
"It's been 16 games with Steve and the good has far outweighed the bad," said Kitchener Rangers coach and general manager Peter DeBoer of his suspended winger.
"He's been outstanding in his discipline and the way he's drawn penalties and avoided them. This is our first incident and hopefully our last."
Yes, the incident in Guelph.
In Saturday's 5-0 loss, Downie flipped out after his team fell behind 4-0. He jumped the Storm's Mike McLean on a centre-ice faceoff and threw punches as McLean covered up. Downie kicked his helmet as he was led off and threw a water bottle holder.
He'll get at least four games from the Ontario Hockey League. Two for the game misconduct and for instigating a fight. Two for the water bottle toss that left him with a gross misconduct.
DeBoer knew when he acquired the hot-tempered Downie from Peterborough on Jan. 8 that Downie has a history of snapping. A year ago, he got five games for jumping a Belleville player.
"He hates to lose," DeBoer said of Downie, a two-time world junior champion for Canada and a top Philly Flyers NHL prospect.
"When the team gets in a situation where we're losing or we're getting embarrassed, he takes it personally. Sometimes, he doesn't handle that the right way. His heart is in the right spot. He's trying to make a difference and get the team going."
Downie, who was not available for comment yesterday with the Rangers taking a day off, straddles the line.
The threat he might cross over it makes him intimidating and effective.
DeBoer likens him to ex-Rangers David Clarkson and Adam Keefe, two immensely effective and potentially volatile players who were so valuable to the Rangers in recent playoff years.
Clarkson, who was a clutch overtime scorer in the playoffs in 2005, missed the 2004 playoffs after a late-season stick-swinging incident in Guelph earned him a suspension.
Keefe, an intimidator who had the Owen Sound Attack cowering in the 2005 playoffs, missed the start of that playoff season after getting suspended for flipping the bird at the Erie Otters bench in a late-season game at the Aud.
Both players helped the Rangers win the Memorial Cup in 2003.
"When you coach players like Downie and Clarkson and Keefe -- players that play that role and play with that emotion -- you realize pretty quickly that they're not thinking about the consequences or next week when that's happening," DeBoer said. "They're in the moment and they're trying to make a difference. Afterwards, when it clicks in what it's cost them, there's some regret."
But DeBoer believes these players are worth any extra worry. Downie, 19, kept his cool to help Peterborough win the OHL title last spring.
"You'd be crazy to avoid players like this -- these are the type of players that can also win you series," DeBoer said. "From a coaching point of view, they're obviously a challenge. But you know they're difference-makers."
Downie can't make a difference this week as the Rangers visit Windsor, his first OHL team, on Thursday. Nor will he be a factor in Friday's Aud showdown with powerful Plymouth or a March 8 visit to first-place London.
When Downie returns to the lineup, both player and coach should be wiser.
"I take some of the blame," DeBoer said of the Guelph meltdown.
"Maybe I should have seen it coming and predicted his state of mind at that point in the game. I'm sure he would tell you he won't handle that situation the same way again. From a coaching point of view, you're learning about your player. Maybe I'll try and avoid putting him in situations like that if a game is out of hand
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Downie's Temper gets him suspended 
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