Tie Domi has decided to hang em up after a 15 year career. Never one to back down from anyone, Domi built his reputation through the years as one of the most willing enforcers in the league. He had said he was thankful for the guys that were established in the league when he came in giving him a chance to hone his rep by obliging him when he asked to go. Near the end of his career, he often turned down guys trying to do the same thing he had done many years before. He cited a different climate in which fighting exists in the NHL. When he came in there was no such thing as a time and place. If you wanted to go, you went. These days, it has to be the “right time.”
So, with Domi’s retirement came the groundswell of the end of the enforcer as we know it, and you can’t just be one dimensional anymore…blah, blah, blah…..I say hogwash. Domi was always an enforcer, yes. But I don’t think he could ever be considered a one dimensional goon. He skated surprisingly well for a guy that does what Domi did. He chipped in offensively every year. He has 104 goals and 141 helpers in 1,020 NHL contests. That isn’t too bad for a guy that spent 3,515 minutes in the sin bin in those 1,020 games. If you break those numbers down, his PIMS add up to almost 60 games spent in the Box. Some guys that are true goons don’t even have 60 games in the show on their resume. What Domi provided was grit, a few points a year, and a presence in the room and on the ice. Sounds pretty multifaceted to me.
While Domi represents the “Old Guard”, he is by no means the end of an era. The only era ending here is the Tie Domi era. Let’s not forget, Tie Domi is 36 years old. Guys that don’t do what he does are being bought out around the league. This isn’t like some 23 year old kid is being bought out because he only brings one dimension to the table. Domi is old by NHL standards, and ancient by enforcer standards. Fighting in the NHL is on the decline in general, and guys do need to be able to help the team these days, but just because Domi is done, it doesn’t mean the whole role is done. There are plenty of guys in the show that are keeping the role alive. So, Tie, thanks for the memories. You will be missed. Good luck with TSN. I look forward to seeing you this winter on TV. Thanks for doing what you did for 15 years.
Amen amigo. I am sorry to see Domi go – but there’s no need to panic. I was in a bar here in Boston Thursday night, listening to a table full of morons bemoan the end of hockey goonery. The simple fact is – if that’s true, what the hell are Chris and I going to write about? Am I in denial? I think hockey is in flux at the moment – nothing more. The jury is still out.
It is on life support, but not dead yet.
Anagram of Tie Domi= Me Idiot