Blaine Down (born July 16, 1982) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. He is currently playing with

EC VSV EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV are an ice hockey team in the ICE Hockey League. They play their home games at Stadthalle (capacity approximately 4,500 spectators) in Villach, Austria. The team colors are blue and white. Their mascot is an eagle - Vill ...

in the

Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League, ICEHL), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria. It c ...

(EBEL).

Playing career

Down played major junior hockey with the

Barrie Colts The Barrie Colts are a junior ice hockey team in Ontario Hockey League (OHL), based in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. The Colts play home games at the Sadlon Arena. The Colts joined the OHL in 1995, and previously competed at lower levels of junio ...

in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

(OHL) where he was active from 1999 to 2002, winning in 2000 the

J. Ross Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, an ...

as OHL champions. He then played three years for the

Bridgeport Sound Tigers The Bridgeport Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, who own the franchise. The team started in 200 ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL), before joining

Ritten Sport Rittner Buam is a professional Italy, Italian ice hockey team from Ritten, playing in the Alps Hockey League and formerly the Serie A (ice hockey), Serie A. History The club under the name SV Renon (Ritten Sportverein) was founded in 1984. In 200 ...

in Italy's

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

in 2005. Then he played for two years in the Danish

AL-Bank Ligaen The Superisligaen, known as the Metal Ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Denmark. The league consists of 9 professional teams. Teams from the Superisligaen can participate in the International Ice Hockey F ...

with the

Herning Blue Fox Herning Blue Fox is a Denmark, Danish professional ice hockey team based in Herning, Denmark, playing in the Metal Ligaen, the top tier of Danish ice hockey. The club was founded in 1947 and play their home games in the KVIK Hockey Arena which has ...

, helping the team win the 2007 and 2008 Danish championship. He signed with the

ZSC Lions The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions are a professional ice hockey team located in Zürich, Switzerland, playing in the National League (NL). Their home arena is the 12,000-seat Swiss Life Arena. The team was founded in 1930 and played at the ...

organization of the Swiss

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league h ...

starting with the 2008-09 season, also playing at Zurich's farm team, the

GCK Lions The Grasshopper Club Küsnacht Lions are a Swiss professional ice hockey team founded in 1932. They are currently playing in the Swiss League (SL), Switzerland's second tier ice hockey division, as the affiliate to the ZSC Lions. The home arena is ...

of the

National League B The Swiss League, also known as the Sky Swiss League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League (ice hockey), National League. The winners of the league each ...

. He won the

Champions Hockey League The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe. Backgrou ...

with the ZSC Lions in 2009. In four years, he saw the ice in 74 NLA and 87 NLB contests, capturing the Swiss national championship with the ZSC Lions in 2012. On June 10, 2012, the

Straubing Tigers The Straubing Tigers are a professional men's ice hockey team, based in Straubing, Germany, that competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Straubing plays its home games at the Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which has a capacity of 5,635 spectators. P ...

of the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

announced the signing of Down to a one-year contract. He would end up staying four years in Straubing, before being picked up by fellow DEL side

Iserlohn Roosters The Iserlohn Roosters are a professional ice hockey team based in Iserlohn, North Rhine-Westphalia. They are members of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) since 2000 and play their home games at the Balver-Zinn Arena which is also known as ''Eissp ...

prior to the 2016–17 season. On May 19, 2018, Down left the DEL after 6 seasons to sign a one-year contract in the neighbouring EBEL with Austrian club, EC VSV.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Down, Blaine 1982 births Living people Barrie Colts players Bridgeport Sound Tigers players Canadian ice hockey centres GCK Lions players Herning Blue Fox players Iserlohn Roosters players SC Langenthal players Ice hockey people from Oshawa Straubing Tigers players Ritten Sport players ZSC Lions players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen