The Loneliest Record
Most records involve cooperation.
After all, hockey is a team game. However, there is a record that is lonelier than others. That’s because to break it, it meant having to spend a lot of time alone. There is one Leafs player who has been given more time for reflection in the penalty box than any other.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had their share of bad boys. When the rules were broken, the players were sent to the sin bin to serve their time. No one has spent more time in there as a member of the Leafs than failed comedian, Tie Domi. He had a ridiculous 2265 total penalty minutes as a Leaf. For his career, Domi had 3515.
The player with the most career penalty minutes in the NHL is Dave “Tiger” Williams.
That’s a name very familiar to Maple Leafs fans. He spent six seasons in the big smoke where he got very well acquainted with the penalty box. Williams served 3,971 minutes in penalties over his 17 year career. 1670 of those minutes came while he was in a Leafs uniform. He happens to also be second in total penalty minutes as a Leaf, behind Domi.
How did Domi accrue so many penalty minutes? It may not be surprising to learn that he is the NHL’s leader in career fights. He had 274 of them.