Frozen Forensics: Steve Downie

Derek Gibson

2015-05-29

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Steve Downie and his penalty minutes brought a lot of value to his fantasy owners this year.

Pugilists are people too (no seriously), and some of them can actually play the game of hockey as well! Most, if not all, fantasy hockey leagues include penalty minutes as a statistical category. I've played in various league formats with regards to PIM's, and they can certainly be a valuable part of any team's success. Drafting a player who can pot 15-20 goals and 100+ PIM's? As we like to say, that's fantasy gold!! For the 2014-15 season, of the 20 players with 90+ penalty minutes, there were only four who scored 15 or more goals: David Backes, Brad Marchand, Dustin Byfuglien, and Scott Hartnell. Those four players were no doubt drafted somewhere in rounds 7-10, and you're going to be looking past those rounds for adding sandpaper to your team at a decent spot. Now what? Let's take a look at Steve Downie, who could be available in your draft at a reasonably, affordable spot, and will certainly help with your "Sin Bin Love":

Downie is no stranger to this category, as we've seen flashes of fantasy brilliance from him for a few years with a few different teams (Flyers, Lightning, and Avalanche). Two factors that made him more valuable this year with his new team: The Pens have never really had a player like Downie, who can both protect the team's megastars AND contribute offensively (Matt Cooke doesn't count). The second biggest factor was Pittsburgh's new assistant coach, Rick Tocchet (a fighting legend in his time). Tocchet was with a young Downie in Tampa Bay, and the two have a great connection. So what did this mean for fantasy owners? Tocchet was responsible for running the Penguins Power Play; Downie averaged 1:25 minutes/game on the man advantage. So take these factors, sprinkle in 14 goals (three on the man advantage), 14 assists, AND also add in 238 PIM's (leading the league by over 40 minutes), and Downie no doubt pushed more than a few fantasy teams into contention.

And from a production standpoint, this was Downie's breakdown:

EV	CROSBY,SIDNEY – DOWNIE,STEVE – SPALING,NICK	4	14.29%
EV	DOWNIE,STEVE – GOC,MARCEL – SPALING,NICK	3	10.71%
EV	BENNETT,BEAU – DOWNIE,STEVE – SUTTER,BRANDON	3	10.71%
EV	DOWNIE,STEVE – SPALING,NICK – SUTTER,BRANDON	3	10.71%

So yes, clearly, he made the most of his limited action with Crosby, who wouldn't?! I understand that 28 total points doesn't light the fantasy world on fire, they're simply a nice addition to a guy who had the following individual, single game penalty totals:

October 18^th versus the New York Islanders: 13 PIM's

November 6^th at Winnipeg: 22 PIM's (also had a goal and assist)

November 22^nd at the Islanders: 17 PIM's

December 13^th at Columbus: 29 PIM's

March 15^th versus Detroit: 22 PIM's

A further breakdown of his 238 penalty minutes also shows eight fighting majors, and nine misconducts; that's 130 PIM's right there alone!!!! Players like Downie tend to pick up their PIM's in bunches, and that really could make a difference in head to head points leagues. In my two keeper leagues, penalty minutes are worth .50 points/PIM, so a night like Steve had in Columbus around Christmas time (can't we all just get along?!), would have been worth a healthy 14.5 points! Ice-time and power play opportunities will be important to keep Downie fantasy-relevant, but Pittsburgh is always known for players going down with time consuming injuries, and there could be some potential roster moves in the offseason for the Penguins. Still, it seems to be a pretty healthy bet that he will remain on the third line with Brandon Sutter and Nick Spaling. Keep Steve Downie on your radar for sure come draft time, great value in the later rounds of fantasy drafts, and his truculent playing style just may mean the difference between a fantasy playoff berth, and a losing record, on the outside looking in.

Just for fun, I did a statistical breakdown of what my all-time favorite fighter Bob Probert's 1987-88 season would have looked like from a fantasy perspective. Awesome is the only word to describe it!!!!

74 games played, 29 goals, 33 assists, 15 Power-play goals, +16…..and 398 PIM's!!!!!

Using a standard, head to head, points-scoring league setting, this is what Probie's fantasy numbers would have been:

306.5 POINTS!!!!!

"Give blood, fight Probie"

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