color of my skin." Brent Sutter named Downie to the Canadian junior team for the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Vancouver. He made a name for himself at the tournament, contributing to Canada's gold medal-winning effort by scoring two goals and four assists in six games while also being named to the all-tournament team. On May 30, 2006, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that they had signed Downie to a three-year, entry-level contract. "It is unbelievable," said Downie in a Flyers press release. "[Signing with the Flyers] was one of the goals that I had set at the beginning of the year and I am just very thankful for this chance. I’m a gritty, physical player and I also am an offensive player as well." After attending Flyers' training camp in the Fall and playing in several pre-season games, however, the club returned Downie to Peterborough. Downie returned to the international stage yet again in December 2006, participating in the 2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Leksand and Mora, Sweden. On January 5, 2007, Canada won the gold medal for the first time on European ice since 1997 with a 4–2 victory over Russia. Throughout the whole tournament, however, Downie was involved in OHL trade rumours. On January 8, 2007, Downie was indeed traded to the Kitchener Rangers in exchange for Yves Bastien, the Rangers' second-round picks in the 2007 and 2008 OHL Priority Selections, as well as the 2007 second-round pick of the Brampton Battalion. Professional In his first full professional season in 2007–08, Downie's professional career got off to an inauspicious start during a pre-season game against the Ottawa Senators on September 25, 2007. He was involved in an incident in which he checked unsuspecting left winger Dean McAmmond into the boards, while his feet were off the ice. Due to the extent of McAmmond's injury and having left his skates during the hit, Downie was suspended by the NHL for 20 games three days later for deliberate injury to McAmmond, as the NHL were cracking down on any play resulting in a head injury. To date, it is the fifth-longest suspension given by the League. One day after the NHL suspension was announced, the Flyers announced they had sent Downie down to the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms. Per AHL by-laws, Downie was considered automatically ineligible to play pending a review