GIF: Downie elbowing penalty pic.twitter.com/YXE1o6wlo2
— Steph (@myregularface) December 19, 2014
Downie was given an elbowing minor on the play, but that wasn’t the real story.
These two have quite the history, in case you forgot.
When Downie was traded from Colorado to Philadelphia (for Max Talbot) last season, there was rampant speculation it was due to the fact he took a healthy run at Landeskog during the exhibition campaign.
“Obviously, people thought it was a weird trade,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman explained at the time, to FAN 960 Calgary radio. “You rarely see a first-rounder get traded for a guy who — while a useful player — is now pretty much a fourth-liner.
“During training camp, Downie got angry at Landeskog for a trip during a scrimmage, and he drilled [Landeskog]. I was just told that from that day, considering Downie was a bit unrepentant about it, I just heard the Avalanche decided they were going to make the change at that time.
“Basically the Avalanche decided that when that happened, and Downie was unapologetic about it, the time was going to come when he was going to get dealt.”
Downie later downplayed the incident and feud, calling it “overblown” while adding he had a “great” relationship with Landeskog.