Hockey Rants

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Tie Domi: Into the Studio

It's no surprise that goon-turned-enforcer Tie Domi, the Albanian Assassin and owner of the leather face, retired from playing NHL hockey. His time had clearly come.

What WAS surprising is that TSN, the Toronto Sports Network (it's true, you know it) has hired Domi as a studio analyst.

ORLY?

Domi has always rubbed me the wrong way. He has struck me as a whiny, hypocritical asshole. I can remember him whining about the fact that the Leafs had to play on Boxing Day. Oh, boo hoo! Domi, like most Leafers, seemed to pick up the whine bug upon his trade to Hogtown.

Now, I'm willing to give him a chance as a studio analyst. He just may shake things up.

"I am excited and nervous in my new role and I promise to bring the same passion and dedication to the broadcast arena that I delivered on the ice night in and night out," Domi said during a 30-minute news conference at Air Canada Centre organized by the Toronto Maple Leafs. "I'm not going to hold much back.

"What you saw on the ice is what you're going to see on TV every Wednesday night from coast to coast. I might need a six-second delay when I start. I'm not a guy who vanillas many things."

If anything, you gotta like the fact that the d00d keeps a website with his own fight card

What I will remember most about Domi, besides his Hallowe'en mask of a face, was his ability to take a whole lot of punches.

Like Rocky Balboa, Domi would just take a lot of punishment and come back to win many fights. His stone-head and leather face came in handy as he let guys tire themselves out by beating his face before pulling their sweaters over their heads and pounding away for the victory.

12/27/00 vs. Jiri Slegr? Oh, poor Jiri....

# posted by Unknown @ 7:00 pm

Comments:

I actually remember the Slegr fight -- it was right about the time of Mario Lemieux's comeback (and it may have been a case of Slegr responding to a hit on Lemieux). As I recall, Domi won, but Slegr held his own.

Of course, that may just be wishful thinking editing my memories.

# posted by