the San Jose Sharks, with Kyle McLaren, after McLaren took a run at Henrik Zetterberg and Dallas Drake. Less than a week later the Wings played the Sharks again and Downey had a heavyweight battle against then San Jose tough guy Rob Davison. Downey added an element of toughness to the Red Wings with his willingness to fight. Prior to him joining the Red Wings, the Red Wings had been last in the NHL in fighting majors. The team had six for the 2005–06 NHL season, and 10 during the 2006–07 NHL season. Through February 2008, Downey accounted for nine of the team's 19 fights. He was often praised by head coach Mike Babcock for his willingness to stick up for teammates and his positive attitude in the dressing room. Perhaps his most memorable bout was against Colorado Avalanche player Ian Laperrière, who had hit and injured Red Wings superstar defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom earlier in the game. The two fought late in the first period and came together again early in the third. In 2007–08 season he won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings. Although he did not appear in a playoff game, he did play the required 41 regular-season games to get his name engraved on the cup. Downey spent the majority of the 2008-2009 season playing for Detroit's minor league affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. Downey played 65 games for the Griffins during the 2008-2009 season, scoring 2 goals, getting 7 assists and racking up 126 penalty minutes, with 9 fights. Downey also played four games for the Red Wings in 2008-2009, in those games he had 1 goal, 1 assist, an even plus/minus, 7 penalty minutes, and one fight and led the team in shooting percentage with an even 50.0%. Downey's one fight with the Red Wings during this season was against the St. Louis Blues Cam Janssen; it lasted well over a minute and was regarded by many hockey fans as one of the best fights all season. Downey played for the Griffins during the playoffs, getting 1 assist, 44 penalty minutes and 1 fight in 10 games, before the Griffins were eliminated by the Manitoba Moose. Downey was then called up to the Red Wings roster for the remainder of their playoff run, but he was a healthy scratch the entire time, not playing a single game. On August 21, 2009 Downey signed