Did/do you like Tie Domi and his career with the Leafs?

[67Cup]

True story: my adult sons were talking about their childhood and specifically about me.
Older son, “Dad didn’t yell at us much. Just at the Leafs.”
Younger son,”Especially Tie Domi.”

 

[Cams]

On OTR they were talking about those two was only 8 years ago when they both wore the Leafs jersey. Feels like 20 years ago TBH. We had a stretch of heavy weights that were among the best in the league, Belak (RIP), Orr, McLaren, Domi,

TBH I miss old school hockey. This prima donna, figure skating BS that they call hockey now a days is as boring as F on most nights. It was a tougher game to play 30 -40 years ago, not just the rough stuff but the ice was slower, the equipment was considerably worse, the sticks didn't allow a 170lbs weakling shoot a 100mph slapshot like todays sticks do. If you were weak the sticks didn't forgive you. Skates sucked, gloves sucked, pads sucked and it was all about who wanted to compete more.

This is hockey:


This is not:

That's not hockey......that's an old school bench clearing brawl. I know there is a niche segment that watched hockey just for that kind of stuff, but that and the Broad St Bullies crap isn't hockey. That is why sites like hockeyfights.com exist. There has been some crazy stuff like that recently though too - look at the NYR/NJ game a few years back.

There is no room for a Colton Orr type player on a roster anymore. As much as I enjoyed having that weapon, it was needed at it's time, but the game is much faster now even from 8-10 years ago.

 

[Niagara Bill]

Tie and Belinda...gotta love it!

 

[Primary Assist]

Loved him as a kid, but now as an adult who at least vaguely understands the ideas of gentlemanly conduct, sportsmanship, and actually contributing to a winning hockey team... Yeah not a big fan.

 

[Bluelines]

That's not hockey......that's an old school bench clearing brawl. I know there is a niche segment that watched hockey just for that kind of stuff, but that and the Broad St Bullies crap isn't hockey. That is why sites like hockeyfights.com exist. There has been some crazy stuff like that recently though too - look at the NYR/NJ game a few years back.

There is no room for a Colton Orr type player on a roster anymore. As much as I enjoyed having that weapon, it was needed at it's time, but the game is much faster now even from 8-10 years ago.

You're missing the forest through the trees, it's the passion that makes hockey, its not the brawl that is important. It's every man willing to take a punch to the head for the sake of sticking up for one of his teammates. That is what hockey should be about, not about trick plays and contactless "competition". Fighting for every last inch of ice, having the back of the guy who sits next to you on the bench. Todays game has devolved into an individual skills competition. I personally don't like what the game has become. Selfish entitled prima donnas who want to get paid before they accomplish anything of importance and will not put their nose into a dog pile to help out a teammate if their life depended on it.

You can have skill and toughness all on the same team, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets from the mid 80's are prime examples of finesse and grit... great teams who played a great brand of hockey.

I was thinking the other day about who in todays game would play at the same level in the 1980's and 90's as they do today. Without all the modern day rules, I think Crosby, McDavid would dominate in any era. I don't think guys like Mitch and Willie would, they are either not physically strong enough or have not shown the ability to fight through adversity. TSN airs old games from time to time, until I watched those games I forgot just how rough the old game was the clutching, grabbing, tripping, cross checking, slashing was constant, like every shift there would be at least one hook, one slash, one interference, one cheap shot. Crazy how soft the game is getting.

 

[Coachcorner]

I think saying he scored is pretty generous he is known more for intangibles than stats and I don’t think his game would transition well

I think he rolled with wheels and treally rumbled unda presha sire. He put some breakaway goals in too and I was blesown away sire.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

He was putting up numbers as well though. He had over 20 pts, 5 times including a 15 goal season. By comparison, Cizikas is one of the best 4th liners in the game today and has comparable numbers. Colton Orr is an example of a guy who was just a face puncher and the best season he ever had was 6 pts.

I think he was a POS too but the guy was still a decent player.

He was indeed a decent player, just way too glorified and revered for what he actually was. Being best buddies with Sundin helped him, but I never understood the constant dislike for Sundin while Domi was considered always a God in this city.

The Niedermayer incident of course soured things big time, too.

 

[BlueBaron]

It's kind of like Marchand or Avery back in the day. They are not people I'd want as friends but they are damn useful on your team. As long as it'd a tough sport there will be guys like them.

As goons go he was pretty talented.

 

[deltamachine]

You're missing the forest through the trees, it's the passion that makes hockey, its not the brawl that is important. It's every man willing to take a punch to the head for the sake of sticking up for one of his teammates. That is what hockey should be about, not about trick plays and contactless "competition". Fighting for every last inch of ice, having the guy who sits next to you on the bench back. Todays game has devolved into an individual skills competition. I personally don't like what the game has become. Selfish entitled prima donnas who want to get paid and will not put their nose into a dog pile to help out a teammate if their life depended on it.

You can have skill and toughness all on the same team, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets from the mid 80's are prime examples of finesse and grit... great teams who played a great brand of hockey.

Although I think he was pound for pound one of the toughest players I ever watched AND able to put up decent 4th line numbers, he wouldn't fit in at all with this team. The Leafs from Domi's era had team toughness and it's something that's really missed. I may be wrong, but there seemed to be alot of ex captains on the roster at that time.

 

[LeafSteel]

Started out liking Domi. Thought he, Valk, and Alyn MaCauley were the perfect 4th line. Good fighter, could play, and would stand up for his teammates.

His ego went out of control though, and was a complete DB once he started sucking up to MLSE and Tannenbaum specifically. Completely over-stepped his place as a player and would absolutely have caused issues in the locker room.

Don't want any part of him or Max on this team, even if it pisses off Paul Marner, which I confess does appeal to me quite a bit.....

I think Tie undid a lot of good will that he had built up in his final few years with the Leafs, and I don't think he is well regarded by his former team mates because of it.

 

[Cams]

You're missing the forest through the trees, it's the passion that makes hockey, its not the brawl that is important. It's every man willing to take a punch to the head for the sake of sticking up for one of his teammates. That is what hockey should be about, not about trick plays and contactless "competition". Fighting for every last inch of ice, having the guy who sits next to you on the bench back. Todays game has devolved into an individual skills competition. I personally don't like what the game has become. Selfish entitled prima donnas who want to get paid and will not put their nose into a dog pile to help out a teammate if their life depended on it.

You can have skill and toughness all on the same team, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets from the mid 80's are prime examples of finesse and grit... great teams who played a great brand of hockey.

100% percent agree with you on that. I wanted to mention it in my first post, and it was on my mind while writing that.

Keep in mind that up until the last 10-15 years I am guessing, that there was less camaraderie off the ice among the players than there is now. Today especially, there are so many development camps, specialty training, etc that these guys are all buddies off the ice moreso now than ever. Sure you can put friendships aside during the heat of the battle, but this may play in the "entitle prima donnas" aspect of what you are talking about.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Tie's favorite place to hangout in London was Dale Hunter's office. I was told one of the reasons Marner/Dvorak was broken up in 2014/15 for the playoffs so Max could play with Dvorak was because Tie kept on bitching about Marner getting favorable treatment and for a variety of reasons M. Domi/Dvorak/Marner didn't click as a stacked top line like Tkachuk/Dvorak/Marner did the next year (Tkachuk knew how to fit in on a line with a puck dominant player like Mitch, Max likes to dominate the puck like Mitch). Pretty sure the two fathers aren't exactly fans of one another.

Max 95 and Mitch 97 are both great kids but their dads were both a piece of work .. Tie never tried anything with me but he always had a barb about how he could still beat me up on ice and I would play my kid more than his even though my kid played defense and I ran forwards door but those were long long years ago .. Paul is a different animal .. Tie was in your face at arenas but Paul did his thing over phone and with other parents .. da kids had extreme talent and you knew right away both would go to show when they were 6 or before .. one thing I can say about Tie is I never saw him go against head coaches systems it was always ice time and line mates beefs.. Paul videotaped every practice and game and really was Mitch's coach and it caused him issues all da way up to Babs .. da TO hockey scene got a lot worse over da years with parents .. i wonder if it is any better today?

 

[Seras]

Often?

Sure!

 

[93LEAFS]

Max 95 and Mitch 97 are both great kids but their dads were both a piece of work .. Tie never tried anything with me but he always had a barb about how he could still beat me up on ice and I would play my kid more than his even though my kid played defense and I ran forwards door but those were long long years ago .. Paul is a different animal .. Tie was in your face at arenas but Paul did his thing over phone and with other parents .. da kids had extreme talent and you knew right away both would go to show when they were 6 or before .. one thing I can say about Tie is I never saw him go against head coaches systems it was always ice time and line mates beefs.. Paul videotaped every practice and game and really was Mitch's coach and it caused him issues all da way up to Babs .. da TO hockey scene got a lot worse over da years with parents .. i wonder if it is any better today?

I've heard the stories about both. It's not just a GTA thing either, crazy hockey parents are universal. Ask anyone on the Steelheads about Michael Nylander's brief stint as an assistant when Alex was on the team. Let's just say they were willing to not bring Alex back if it meant having to deal with him on the bench another year.

 

[AvroArrow]

Loved Domi, and loved watching him KO Samuelsson. Yeah it was a sucker punch but Ulf was a dirty POS.

 

[TMLAM34]

Surprised so many are against Max coming to Toronto. I’d love to see Domi on the back of the jersey again. Max is having a solid season and at the right price I definitely wouldn’t mind him slotting on our third line.

 

[Twine Tickler]

I loved Tie Domi, and still do. Guy is tough as f***ing nails. I really don't think anyone can dispute that. He fought the toughest customers in the game for over a decade and was also a lot better of a player than people give him credit for.

That late 90's early 2000's team that Tie was a part of was my favorite Leaf era of my 30+ years on this planet. They played the right way, and they battled their balls off. Tie played a big role in that.

I will say though, I read his book a couple years back and it really felt like he was just pumping his own tires for 300+ pages. Maybe that was just my perception of the book, but it just felt like he was always painting the stories in a favorable way for himself. Never really got that vibe from him when he was a Leaf. But then again I was in my early teens when he was a Leaf, and without the social media presence we have today, or even media attention in general I never was really able to see that characteristic from Tie before.

That all said, I still love Tie Domi. Most NHL fights of all time. In an era where each team had probably 3-4 guys on the roster that were tougher than 99% of the current NHL. Tie is a complete legend of the game let alone a Maple Leaf legend

 

[JT AM da real deal]

I've heard the stories about both. It's not just a GTA thing either, crazy hockey parents are universal. Ask anyone on the Steelheads about Michael Nylander's brief stint as an assistant when Alex was on the team. Let's just say they were willing to not bring Alex back if it meant having to deal with him on the bench another year.

Yep we had Mikey as an underager on our team way back when and I think Rich would say same thing privately .. but this age group had quite a few parents who thought their kids were cats meoooooh .. then again many of them made da show .. I can only hope it is better today as parent coaches make for a difficult team

 

[93LEAFS]

Yep we had Mikey as an underager on our team way back when and I think Rich would say same thing privately .. but this age group had quite a few parents who thought their kids were cats meoooooh .. then again many of them made da show .. I can only hope it is better today as parent coaches make for a difficult team

I'm not sure the Steelheads were exactly enthused about the McLeods towards the end. But, they didn't demand a spot on the actual bench.

 

[LeafChief]

I'm not sure the Steelheads were exactly enthused about the McLeods towards the end. But, they didn't demand a spot on the actual bench.

A lot of talk about bad parents but which kids from that age group had great parents?

 

[AngryScotsman]

Loved him, we could really use some of that now. The Niedermayer incident really upset me but, as with any player of that sort of mentality (Kadri, Marchand etc...) It's inevitable that their emotions will get the best of them from time to time.

 

[keonsbitterness]

Tie and Belinda...gotta love it!

Belinda wore the pants in that relationship.

 

[Mickey Marner]

I liked him as a 4th line enforcer. I didn't like all the cheapshot/sideshow/off-ice crap. The only thing bigger than his head is his ego.

 

[supermann_98]

Loved Domi, and loved watching him KO Samuelsson. Yeah it was a sucker punch but Ulf was a dirty POS.

Literally the only good thing Domi did in his Leaf career imo.

The sucker shot on Scott Neidermayer cancelled it as it directly lead to poking the sleeping bear as NJ picked up their play substantially and the Leafs collapsed.

 

[93LEAFS]

A lot of talk about bad parents but which kids from that age group had great parents?

I think the Knights from what I was told liked dealing with the Tkachuk's. As far as kids with NHL pedigree they were pretty hands-off compared to Nylander/Domi's. I never heard any complaints about Tippett's mom when he was with the Steelheads.