Selected 27th overall at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, Domi is known as an enforcer and a fighter who has more penalty minutes than any other player in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs and third overall in penalty minutes in NHL history.
He played with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, soon gaining a reputation as an enforcer. He was drafted in 1988 by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2nd round, 27th overall.
He was traded to the New York Rangers in 1990. As a Ranger, he made his reputation, when he challenged Bob Probert for a famous fisticuff. He lost that brawl but he received a lot of new fans because of his courage, and his spectacular and outspoken appearance.[citations needed] In 1992, he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets where he earned some of his stripes as an NHL tough guy and was named a fan favourite in 1994. One of the specific roles he was tasked at there was to act as a personal "bodyguard" for Teemu Selänne, and this role was rewarded by Tie Domi giving the assist to Selännes rookie season scoring record breaking goal. When traded back to the Leafs in 1995, he soon became a fan favorite for his crunching body checks and powerful fistfights; among his fans was Don Cherry.
In the closing seconds of Game 4 of the 2001 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Tie rendered New Jersey Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer unconscious with an elbow to the head. Domi received a five-minute intent to injure penalty, and was later suspended by the league for the remainder of the playoffs.
In the 1997-98 season, Tie set a Leafs single-season record with 365 penalty minutes, passing a mark set by Tiger Williams in the 1977-78 season. Tie has stated in the past that Tiger was one of his heroes.
In his early years, whenever he scored a goal, he usually turned his stick around and sat on it like a horse. He has done it rarely in recent years. After winning a fight he would sometimes twirl his fists as if pretending to be wearing a championship belt.
In the 2000-01 season Tie is well remembered for the "Philadelphia incident". Domi, sitting in the penalty box, had sprayed a heckler with his water bottle, when an intoxicated Philadelphia Flyers fan begin yelling at him and banging on the glass. The glass panel gave way, and the fan fell into the box. The fan was not only pinned by Domi, but also took a few light punches from him. No formal charges were laid, but the fan was ejected from the building, and Domi was fined (but not suspended) by the NHL.
In 1995, Domi was suspended for eight games and fined for a sucker punch that knocked out Ulf Samuelsson of the New York Rangers.
On March 3, 2006, Tie Domi played his 1,000th career NHL game against the Buffalo Sabres.
On March 10, 2006, Domi was a healthy scratch for the Maple Leafs game versus the New York Islanders. It was the first time since the 1999 playoffs that Tie has been made a healthy scratch by coach Pat Quinn. Domi stated publicly that he was not happy with being benched, a fact that was underlined by his staying in his hotel room, not arriving at the game until AFTER the second period. This is widely regarded as a contributing factor in the decision to buy out his contract.[1]
On June 30, 2006, the Toronto Maple Leafs opted to buy out the final year of Domi's contract [2]. Domi became a free agent on July 1, 2006, and on September 19, 2006 at 4PM, Tie Domi announced his retirement from the NHL and his new position in broadcasting on TSN. He added that he could not see himself "wearing another jersey other than the blue and white" of the Maple Leafs.
all right reserved(c)D39Hproduction
Tags: Tie Domi fight
