Troubled Spitfire Downie dealt to Peterborough

Didn’t play after scrap in practice Baggage doesn’t worry Petes GM

The first thing Steve Downie did after learning of his trade to Peterborough was check the OHL schedule to see if the Petes had yet played against his former club in Windsor. The first-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers now has Nov. 25 circled on his calendar — the date he will return to where he spent three years of his junior career.

“ I’m excited I get to play there again,” said Downie yesterday, more than a month after leaving the team and making a trade request. “ They’re great fans, I’m going to miss them dearly, but as for my reception, I wouldn’t expect anything less than if they booed me.” Downie left the 6- 13-0 Spitfires after a much- publicized altercation with rookie Akim Aliu during a practice on Sept. 28. The team suspended Downie for five games and Aliu, Windsor’s first- round pick in 2005, for one.

“People can say what they want, but no one really knows what happened,” said Downie. “ It’s over and done with. People can think what they want about me, I don’t think I’m a bad guy.” The 18-year-old was finally traded by the Spitfires yesterday to the Petes in exchange for 19year- old defenceman Peter Aston and second-round draft picks in 2006 and 2007, as well as a fifth- round pick in 2007.

“ We know he plays on the edge a little bit, but we hope at the same time going through what he’s gone through, he’s learned from it,” said Petes GM Jeff Twohey.

“ I think Steve’s all about winning and I think he’ll put the team first.” Twohey isn’t concerned about any perceived baggage.

“We’ve done our homework, there’s a lot of controversy there but we don’t really know exactly what happened,” said Twohey. “ We just see a kid who plays with a lot of passion and is a world junior candidate and a first- round NHL pick.” Downie played in one game for Windsor this year, scoring a hat trick on Sept. 24. Last season he was one of Windsor’s top scorers with 21 goals and 52 assists. He’s expected to be in the Petes lineup tonight against Ottawa.