Fans pull no punches to see former NHL enforcer Tie Domi

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/12/2015 (2670 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

From hard-nosed fighter to bestselling author, a beloved former Winnipeg Jet has been pummelling more keyboards than faces these days.

Tie Domi was at Costco on McGillivray Boulevard Sunday signing copies of his new book, Shiftwork, a memoir of his life on hockey’s grandest stage and the events that happened away from it.

Originally, Domi wasn’t to set foot in the city in which he spent parts of three seasons, from 1992 to 1995.

“The fans wanted me,” he said.

And they came out in droves, with roughly 80 people waiting in line before Domi arrived.

“I always wanted to marry him when I was younger,” said Brenda Frogg, who made the trek from Cross Lake. “I was so nervous, I almost fell. I told him I was falling for him. He was an enforcer and I liked that about him.”

Domi scored 104 goals and had 245 points over a career that spanned 1,020 games. But it’s the PIM (penalties in minutes) column and his penchant for fisticuffs that Domi is most remembered for.

Domi dropped the gloves 333 times during his career — a NHL record, which included spirited bouts with the likes of the late Bob Probert, Donald Brashear and Rob Ray, whom he fought 13 times over his 16-year career.

The Windsor, Ont., native spent 3,515 minutes in the sin bin — nearly 59 games — good for third all-time behind David “Tiger” Williams and Dale Hunter.

Perhaps his most famous trip to the penalty box ended with Domi — then a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs — wrestling with a fan in the box during a game in Philadelphia in the 2000-01 season.

“He’s one of the guys who played hockey when toughness was part of the game,” said Neil Laviolette, a self-proclaimed die-hard Leafs fan. “He’s up there with guys like Wendel Clark and Tiger Williams. I don’t believe there will be a guy like him again ever in hockey.”

Fans shouldn’t expect much talk of fighting in his book. Domi said he wouldn’t write a book about fighting. Instead, he wanted to focus on his family, his life away from the rink and all the great people he met along the way.

“I protected my teammates, that was my job,” Domi said. “It’s been a fun experience, and I really wanted to write a book about life values and not just my hockey career but every day.”

Part of that is touching on his son, Max. The younger Domi was born in Winnipeg, and is currently finding his way in the NHL, although from a slightly different angle — Max does his talking with his stick.

Max has 10 goals and 23 points in his first 26 games in his rookie season this year with the Arizona Coyotes.

Shiftwork has been a No. 1 bestseller for the last month.

Domi heads to Ottawa Monday and London later in the week to wrap a book tour that visited New York City and Toronto among other places.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

If you value coverage of Manitoba’s arts scene, help us do more.
Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism. BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project.