Tie Domi

Tahir "Tie" Domi (born November 1, 1969) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player of Albanian origin. Known for his role as an enforcer, he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets over a sixteen-year NHL career. He has more penalty minutes than any other player in the history of the Maple Leafs (see Maple Leafs records) and third overall in penalty minutes in NHL history. Recently Domi debuted his first book called Shift Work, and is promoting it across Canada. Fans have been visiting with Domi and touring the trailer of memorabilia as well.

Minor and junior
Domi grew up in the town of Belle River, Ontario, playing minor hockey for the local Belle River Rink Rats (OMHA). His parents are Albanians from the town of Kukesi, who fled Communist Albania for Canada following World War II. As a 15-year-old, Domi 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, Domi began his major junior career in 1986–87. 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 1987–88, he recorded an OHL career-high 22 goals and 43 points over 60 games. With 292 penalty minutes, Domi quickly earned a reputation as an enforcer.

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

Early professional career
Domi turned professional in 1989–90 with Toronto's American Hockey League (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. In the off-season, he was traded to the New York Rangers. He split the subsequent year between New York and their AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Rangers. During his 28 games with New York in 1990–91, he scored his first NHL goal. After playing a full NHL campaign with the Rangers in 1991–92, Domi was traded early the following season to the Winnipeg Jets.

Toronto Maple Leafs
In 1995, Domi was traded back to the Toronto Maple Leafs. That year, New York Rangers defenceman Ulf Samuelsson was famously knocked unconscious by a sucker punch to the face from Domi. Domi received an eight-game suspension and a fine for the incident, described by some as one of the cheapest shots in NHL history. Domi insisted that Samuelsson provoked the punch by repeatedly calling him "dummy". In the 1997–98 season, Domi set a Leafs single-season record with 365 penalty minutes, passing a mark set by Tiger Williams in 1977–78.

During the 2000–01 season, Domi was fined $1,000 (the maximum possible fine at the time) for an incident involving a fan during an away game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Sitting in the penalty box, Domi 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. Domi then grabbed Falcone and punched him several times. After the game in an interview, Domi said to the media, "It's nice to see the fans get involved, I guess."

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

On June 30, 2002, Domi was traded to the Nashville Predators by Toronto for Nashville's 8th round choice (Shaun Landolt) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He never played a game with Nashville, later re-signing with Toronto as a free agent on July 14, 2002. He 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 of 2005–06, Domi scored his 100th NHL goal. Also, Domi played his 1,000th career NHL game, on March 3, 2006 against the Buffalo Sabres. Seven days later, on March 10, 2006, Domi was a healthy scratch for the Maple Leafs game versus the New York Islanders. It was the first time since the 1999 playoffs that Tie had been made a healthy scratch by coach Pat Quinn. Domi 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 Domi's contract. Domi became a free agent on July 1, 2006. Without a contract several months later, Domi announced his retirement on September 19.

Media and entertainment
During his NHL career, Domi 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

Following his retirement, Domi accepted a position in broadcasting with The Sports Network (TSN), a stint that lasted less than a month.

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

In October 2009, Domi began competing as a pairs figure skater on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, reality show Battle of the Blades with Christine Hough.

Domi is a current spokesperson for Comwave, a telecommunications company.

Domi's autobiography "Shift Work" was co-written by Jim Lang (broadcaster).

Football and Canadian football
Domi has also been involved in football 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.

Family
Tie Domi has three children from his marriage to his ex-wife, Leanne: daughters Carlin and Avery Rose, and son Max. Domi's 13-year marriage ended in divorce in 2006 amid allegations by Domi's wife that he had committed adultery with then-MP Belinda Stronach; a settlement was reached in September 2006 before allegations could be raised in court. Tie now spends his time with his girlfriend, Heather and his children. Tie regularly attends his son, Max's hockey games, cheering him on through the NHL season.

Tie's son, Max Domi plays for the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League. During the 2012 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, an international under-18 competition Max was participating in, Domi allegedly stole a video camera belonging to a Swedish coach, who was recording the Canadian team's practice – a legal practice. Domi took the unmanned camera before later returning it without the battery.