The Most Colorful Toronto Maple Leafs of All-Time
Tie Domi
Toronto Maple Leafs enforcers, like goalkeepers, have been among the most interesting and memorable players in team history.
This certainly holds true for the next entry on our list-the diminutive heavyweight scrapper and possessor of perhaps the hardest head in NHL history, Tie Domi.
Domi was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the 1988 entry draft and spent a year playing on the Leafs farm club in Newmarket where he quickly established himself as an up and coming bruiser who was not to be trifled with.
Domi played in only two games for the Toronto Maple Leafs before being shipped off to the New York Rangers, in 1990.
It was during his three seasons in New York City that Domi established himself as a major heavyweight enforcer, and he did so battling with much larger players such as Dave Brown and Bob Probert.
One memorable scrap between Probert and Domi went down at Madison Square Garden in February, 1992, and helped establish Domi’s notoriety in the league.
The lads threw down and Domi battled Probert to a draw in a spirited bout that saw both player land serious haymakers.
Despite taking a couple of heavy shots from Probert at the end of the tilt, Domi stayed on his feet and after the players were separated by the linesmen, Domi gestured with his hands by his midsection to indicate that he had captured the NHL’s heavyweight belt from Probert.
Domi became favourite of the Madison Square Garden faithful with his memorable fights and animated antics.
After 3 years in New York, Domi was traded to the Winnipeg Jets where he would continue to battle foes and win fans.
In 1994, the resurgent Toronto Maple Leafs reacquired Domi for his pugilistic talents believing that his presence on the team would help protect stars such as Doug Gilmour and Dave Andreychuk and allow Wendel Clark to focus more on scoring and less on fighting.
Among Domi’s most memorable Maple Leafs moments were the times he squirted a heckling Philadelphia Flyers fan with water from the penalty box of the Spectrum, only to have the fan climb in the box to engage him in battle,and the time he cold-cocked New York Rangers defenseman, Ulf Samuelsson, with a single shot during a home game in Maple Leaf Gardens.
I don’t know how you feel about old time hockey, but the current edition of the Toronto Maple Leafs still need a major upgrade in the sandpaper department and a chip off the old block, Max Domi, would look awful good in a Leafs uniform sometime in the near future.