Tie Domi

**Tie Domi** (born Tahir Domi on November 1, 1969 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the NHL for 16 years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and the Winnipeg Jets.

## Playing Career

### Minor and junior

As a child, Tie played minor hockey for the local Belle River Rink Rats of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association.

When he was 15 years old, he played for the Belle River Canadiens of the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League. He moved up a level the following year with the Windsor Bulldogs of the Western Junior B Hockey League.

After being selected in the seventh round (102nd overall) of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection by the Peterborough Petes, Tie began his major junior career in the 1986–87 season. He spent his first year as a part-time player with the Petes, also seeing time with the nearby Peterborough Roadrunners in the Metro Junior A Hockey League.

Playing a full season with the Petes in the 1987–88 season, Tie recorded an OHL career-high 22 goals and 43 points over 60 games. With 292 penalty minutes, he quickly earned a reputation as an enforcer.

During the off-season, Tie was selected in the second round (27th overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. Upon his selection, he returned to the Petes for one more season of junior, recording 14 goals and 30 points over 43 games.

### Professional

Tie turned professional in the 1989–90 season with Toronto's AHL affiliate, the Newmarket Saints. He recorded 14 goals and 25 points over 57 games, while also making his NHL debut, appearing in two games with the Leafs that year.

During the off-season, Tie was traded to the New York Rangers, splitting the subsequent year between New York and their AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Rangers.

During his 28 games with New York in the 1990–91 season, Tie scored his first NHL goal. After playing a full NHL campaign with the Rangers in the 1991–92 season, he was traded early the following season to the Winnipeg Jets.

In 1995, Tie was traded back to the Toronto Maple Leafs. That year, he famously knocked New York Rangers defenceman Ulf Samuelsson unconscious with a sucker punch to the face. He was suspended eight games and heavily fined for the incident, described by some as one of the cheapest shots in NHL history.

Tie insisted that Samuelsson provoked the punch by repeatedly calling him "dummy." In the 1997–98 season, he set a Leafs single-season record with 365 penalty minutes, passing a mark set by Tiger Williams in the 1977–78 season.

During the 2000–01 season, Tie was involved in an incident with a fan during an away game on March 29, 2001, against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Sitting in the penalty box, he used his water bottle to spray water at a heckler, prompting another Flyers fan, Christopher Falcone, to begin yelling at him and climbing up the glass. The glass panel gave way and Falcone fell into the penalty box.

Tie then grabbed Falcone and punched him several times. After the game in an interview, he said to the media, "It's nice to see the fans get involved, I guess." He was fined $1000, the maximum allowable at the time by the NHLPA's collective bargaining agreement, but received no suspension.

On May 3, 2001, in the closing seconds of Game 4 of the 2001 Eastern Conference Semi-finals, well away from the play, Tie threw an elbow at the head of New Jersey Devils defenceman Scott Niedermayer, knocking him unconscious. He received a five-minute intent to injure penalty and was later suspended by the NHL for the remainder of the playoffs.

On June 30, 2002, he was traded to the Nashville Predators by Toronto for Nashville's 8th round choice (Shaun Landolt) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft; however, he never played a game with Nashville, later re-signing with Toronto as a free agent on July 14, 2002.

Tie had his best season in the 2003-04 NHL season, when he set career highs of 15 goals and 29 points. In what turned out to be his final season in the 2005–06 season, he scored his 100th NHL goal. He also played his 1,000th career NHL game, on March 3, 2006 against the Buffalo Sabres.

Seven days later, on March 10, 2006, Tie was a healthy scratch for the Maple Leafs game versus the New York Islanders; it was the first time since the 1999 playoffs that he had been made a healthy scratch by coach Pat Quinn.

Tie 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.

On June 30, 2006, the Maple Leafs opted to buy out the final year of Tie's contract and became a free agent on July 1, 2006. Without a contract several months later, he announced his retirement on September 19, 2006.

## Personal Life

Tie is the father of Max Domi, who was drafted 12th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and currently plays in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens. He also has two daughters, Carlin and Avery Rose, with his ex-wife, Leanne.

On July 16, 2017, Tie remarried to Heather McDonough in Toronto and they currently reside in New York City.

During his NHL career, Tie also appeared in three films, playing a role in the 1999 independent film, "Men of Means" while also making a cameo appearance in the hockey-themed drama, "Mystery, Alaska."

In 2007, he played himself in a season 2 episode of Canadian sitcom, "Rent-a-Goalie" titled "Domi Daze".

Following his retirement, Max accepted a position in broadcasting with The Sports Network (TSN), a stint that lasted less than a month. In October 2009, he began competing as a pairs figure skater on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, reality show Battle of the Blades with Christine Hough. He is currently a spokesperson for Comwave, a telecommunications company.

Tie has also been involved in soccer and Canadian football at the professional and semi-professional levels. He played a full season for Kosovo of the Canadian International Soccer League during the summer of 1995 and appeared in two pre-season exhibition games as a placekicker for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.