Playing mini-sticks as a kid in the wives’ room. Allowed to dress in the stall next to Mats Sundin. Trailing after attendants in the locker room, folding towels. Standing at the centre of Scotiabank as his dad dumped out a pail of pucks.
It was a charmed childhood for Max Domi. And now, with synchronicity, a charmed reinvention as a Toronto Maple Leaf.
The 28-year-old son of Tie Domi — enforcer extraordinaire but also a talented skater with skill — signed a one-year $3-million contract with the Leafs on Monday, another middle-range free agent corralled by new general manager Brad Treliving.
Over the moon is Max, about returning to the bosom of his youth. Probably the only person happier about the development is his father. “He’s ecstatic,” Domi the Younger told reporters on a Zoom call. “He’s just a hockey dad, like anyone else.”
Well, not quite like anyone else. Rather distinctive in the annals of Leaf history, as the page turns to the present, with shades of nostalgia.
“It’s no secret that Toronto’s my hometown,” continued Max, who was actually born in Winnipeg. “It’s where I grew up. My whole family still lives here. I spend my summers here. I was a Leafs fan growing up. I got to witness first-hand a lot of games, playoff games, with my pops growing up. Mats Sundin is like family to me as well.”
Same square head as his dad, same stocky build. Although the athletic genes were also passed on through his mother, Leanne, a marathoner.
Tie Domi played a decade in Toronto, most notably as Sundin’s protector. Beloved still around these parts, admired for more than just his fists. What he drummed into his son’s brain: Don’t.
I recall watching a game with Tie in Phoenix, during Max’s dazzling rookie season as a Coyote. Annoyed that he was being pushed around, Max dropped his gloves. Pops was none too pleased. Your hands! Don’t damage your hands!
“My hands did the talking,” Tie said that night. “His play does the talking.”
Seven years and seven NHL teams later, Max has wound his way back home. “I wanted to come home. It was a no-brainer for me.”
Although he has no memory of it, Max Domi was just 18 months old when he was father brought him out on the ice, at Maple Leaf Gardens actually. His childhood recollections of Scotiabank, nee Air Canada Centre, are much clearer. “I’ll never forget the feeling of skating around out there, looking up at the seats.” Thinking: “Man, it would be the coolest thing in the world, playing in this rink, wither every seat filled up and playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“It’s a dream come true, it really is. Something I’ve dreamed over and over again.
“It’s one thing to get a chance to do that. It’s another thing to do that wearing the same jersey (dad) was wearing for many years. It makes my hair stand up on my arms.”
Indeed, Treliving told reporters that Domi was “dying” to play in Toronto. Which doubtless made it easier to come to an agreement, Domi signing for the same $3 million he’d received in Chicago last season, and another one-year deal. “Hey, obviously you want security when you can’t have everything. For me, the most important thing is winning. And if that means a little less money or less term, it’s a no-brainer. I believe in this group.”
With the Blackhawks, Domi centred the rebuilding team’s top line and featured on the power play. But Chicago sent him to Dallas just before the trade deadline. Eighteen of his 20 goals in 2022-2023 were scored for the Hawks. The Stars lost to Las Vegas in the Western Conference final, with Domi accumulating 13 playoff points, including three goals.
What he’s learned in three trips to the post-season is just how gruelling a Stanley Cup pursuit can be. But he’d already seen that from his father. “I know first-hand from him how hard it is to win. It really is the hardest trophy to win in sports.”
As a Leaf, Domi will be reunited with Mitch Marner, his London Knights teammate for two seasons. They spoke after Domi signed here. “He’s pretty excited.” Domi also talked to captain John Tavares, whom he knows from summer workouts in Toronto, and Auston Matthews, and texted with Morgan Reilly. “I’m really appreciative of those guys reaching out. It’s an interesting transition when you come to a new team. It’s no different here but it certainly makes it much easier when you’re coming home.”
It was a two-way courtship between Treliving and Domi, who’ll wear No. 11 for the Leafs. “When you’re asked to come join a team that’s already established and already a contender, so to speak, it’s a huge boost to your confidence obviously, when they want to bring you in to help take that next step forward. I’ve had some great conversations with Brad, as well as (coach Sheldon Keefe), about certain things that I thought I could help with. A guy that plays hard every single shift and will do absolutely everything to help his teammates and to win a hockey game. Because that’s what it’s all about. I’m really looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity. It’s going to be a fun year. I just can’t wait.”
Domi can play both centre and wing and will likely slot into Toronto’s third line, as Treliving continues to recast the roster within the constraints of a salary cap that has got the Leafs in a chokehold. It’s become quickly evident that the GM is trying to fill a grit void that characterized the teams constructed by his predecessor, Kyle Dubas. Not playoff tough, only this spring advancing beyond the opening round and no further.
Hence the acquisition of feisty Domi and hard-nosed Tyler Bertuzzi. “We need a little bit more snot to our game,” Treliving said. “I think (Bertuzzi and Domi) bring a little bit of that.”
Scrappy, Domi, but not a combatant in his father’s feared, championship-belt image. Tie racked up 3,515 penalty minutes across 16 seasons, with three clubs, including 14 majors. Max has amassed 512 penalty minutes, just 14 majors.
Of course, every player takes a bead on the Cup, which Tie Domi never got his hands on. “He wasn’t lucky enough to be a part of a team that won the Stanley Cup,” says the son.
Said the father in an email Monday afternoon: “Hopefully he can help do what we couldn’t do.”
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