Elliotte Friedman says Downie was traded after incident during training camp

The timing of the first player for player trade of the season was a bit off when you considered Max Talbot was being scratched regularly for the Philadelphia Flyers, and Steve Downie was have a great start with the Colorado Avalanche. Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada has a reason for the trade, saying the hit Downie placed on Captain Gabriel Landeskog in training camp was the trigger. He joined 960 TheFan to divulge the details.

"I asked around and obviously people thought it was a weird trade. Basically what it goes back to, and you can find the story if you choose to google it, during training camp Downie got mad at Landeskog for a trip during a scrimmage and he drilled him. And I was just told that from that day... I heard that the Avalanche decided they were going to make the change at that time."

Friedman also mentions what he believes to be the thought process behind trading for Max Talbot.

"The timing of it is still very odd... but I was told basically the Avalanche had decided that when that happened and Downie was kind of unapologetic about it, that the time was going to come where he was going to get dealt."

He continued to say:

"I believe Philly was specifically targeted because they knew that Philly would probably have interest knowing the guy. The other thing too is one of Patrick Roy's best friends and coaching buddies is a guy by the name of Benoit Groulx who coaches in the Quebec League. Benoit Groulx and Max Talbot went to the Memorial Cup final together, and I think Roy had some advice that he was the kind of guy you wanted and Colorado specifically targeted that deal."

Friedman also mentions Downie's past, and explains why teams have traded him so often and why he continues to be in the league considering his edgy play.

"Downie is an edgy guy just in general, and the one thing someone pointed out to me... he went through a pretty traumatic experience early in his life where his father and him were in a car accident and his father who Downie was very close with was killed and he saw it."

To close out the interview, Friedman mentioned Downie's path to the NHL as one that is respected by general managers and owners.

"I think people in the game have tremendous empathy for him and what he went through as a person. It doesn't always excuse what he does, he needs to keep himself under control, he's been suspended 20 games before. I think there are some people who see he has overcome some very long odds to get where he is. I don't know if they always accept what he does but they have an understanding that he's been through a lot and deserves a little more rope."

To listen to the full interview, click here.