On The Record, with Jeffrey Reed
June 6, 2026
Ducking Domi’s Stick At Maple Leaf Gardens

Working as a freelance sports reporter since 1980, I’ve had my share of brushes with violence, not to mention hundreds of verbal sparring matches – in particular involving athletes with thin skin. For the most part, I’ve always enjoyed going toe-to-toe with sports figures. There’s a golden rule in journalism: if in doubt, leave out. I always stand by what I write.

There was an incident, in the late-1980s, that still stands out amongst my all-time clashes. As I began taking photos of a family enjoying a friendly game of doubles tennis at Stronach Park in – of all places – my childhood northeast London neighbourhood, Huron Heights, the family – minus the father – bolted for their vehicle as soon as I pointed my camera their way. Dad walked quickly towards me, spoke loudly in an Eastern European language, grabbed my camera and smashed it into a thousand pieces near the court before bolting for his car. It was public space, so they were fair game, and I was writing a fluff piece, for God’s sake. But after that encounter, I sometimes asked permission to take photos – usually not, though – even though it wasn’t required.

One thing I’ve never been afraid to do is ask tough questions, and because of that I’ve made my share of enemies along the way. In today’s journalism climate, most reporters don’t do that. The reasons? Tough economic times: don’t piss off the hand that feeds you. Plus, there are very few local sports reporters in any community – and most of them are social media reporter wannabees without any credibility. Sad thing is, most people don’t understand the difference between a credible journalist and an Instagram darling. That’s a story for another column.

Mid-1990s Maple Leaf Gardens

On October 28, 1995 I was on assignment at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens for a Leafs versus Los Angeles Kings clash. I wasn’t a beat reporter, and I lived far from the Big Smoke, so I always enjoyed covering the Leafs. The teams tied 2-2 in overtime, with Kings captain Wayne Gretzky scoring and adding an assist in the third period – I was always excited covering the Leafs when Wayne returned home. Maple Leafs captain Doug Gilmour was held scoreless that night.

Not skating for the Leafs was enforcer Tie Domi, who was serving an eight-game suspension after sucker punching New York Rangers defenseman Ulf Samuelsson under his visor in front of the Rangers net at the Gardens on October 14 of that season.

Now, Samuelsson was no angel, believe me. During his 16-year NHL career, he was known for his gritty – and often sneaky dirty – style of play. Don Cherry called him “Ulfie” and pointed out, after Domi was suspended, that then-Pittsburgh Penguin Samuelsson shattered Montreal Canadiens forward Brian Skrudland’s knee after a deliberate knee-on-knee hit in 1991. He pulled the same stunt on Boston Bruins winger Cam Neely that year which, as a result, prematurely ended Neely’s career. Most NHLers hated Samuelsson.

You won’t hear anyone call Domi a saint, but for the most part he played tough – not dirty. But his sucker punch to Samuelsson’s neck and face area was an exception – and cheered by many who followed the NHL during Samuelsson’s career. NHL Vice President said of Domi’s punch, “When I saw Ulf Samuelsson lying on the ice, he still had two gloves on. This was not a fight.” Of course, you can imagine how Grapes went ape-shit on Coach’s Corner, blasting Burke for defending the oft-dirty player Samuelsson.

Domi-autographed photo of the infamous sucker punch

On October 28, I did what I always did when covering an NHL game – attended the morning skate to dig up quotes, get the skinny on injuries and that night’s roster and just enjoy the company of my fellow scribes and broadcasters. Unlike the mostly unfriendly media circle in London, where jealousy often seems to trump friendly competition, I have always enjoyed covering sports in Toronto – NHL hockey, CFL football and PGA Tour golf. I could never understand the London media attitude, other than the fact the Forest City remains a big city with a small-town inferiority complex. Again, a column for another day.

It never got old, walking into the old Leafs dressing room at Maple Leaf Gardens – there was so much history, not only from the Leafs hockey club but also stemming from Game 2 of the 1972 Summit Series. I’ve written in this weekly column that sports journalists – although always professional doing our jobs – are also big fans. How can we not be? At the Gardens, I always got a big thrill knowing that I was walking where hockey giants like Dave Keon, Darryl Sittler, Borje Salming and that entire roster of Team Canada in 1972 had walked before me. That never got old.

On this early Saturday morning, my assignment was to interview Domi – and hope that he didn’t smash my cassette recorder. Not playing that night against the Kings, and with four games remaining in his eight-game suspension, Domi was on the ice by himself when his teammates had already left the ice for the Leafs dressing room. Under the watchful eye of Leafs head coach Pat Burns, Domi skated faster and faster around the Gardens ice, and I could sense that there was steam coming out of his ears. He didn’t look happy, to put it mildly. I was happy I didn’t have my camera in my hands when I approached him for an interview as he stepped off the ice.

Getting the interview was a roll of the dice – I thought Domi would deny me. Surprisingly, he didn’t. FYI My second interview that day was Kings’ new head coach Larry Robinson. That interview turned out to be a dud – either the former Canadiens hall of fame defenseman was still red-eyed after flying in from Ottawa where the Kings had lost their second straight game, 5-4, to the Senators, or his reputation of disliking the media was well deserved. I guessed both.

Domi joking around with Leafs’ Mats Sundin

In any event, Domi was about to accommodate me, despite the fact he was red-faced – both from anger and from skating hard early on a Saturday morning. “Follow me, we’ll talk in here,” he said, pointing his stick to the Leafs dressing room – tiny compared to today’s large, comfortable NHL dressing rooms: they’re the Taj Mahal, whereas that ’95 dressing room was a bare-bones closet.

As you entered the Leafs’ dressing room, the sticks were resting against the wall before turning the corner for the players’ lockers. As I followed Domi to his locker, he still had his stick in his hand. Suddenly, he yelled, “Fuck!” and threw his stick – inches from my head – onto the pile of sticks against the wall. I had no time to think, and no time to react as many of the Leafs, including Gilmour, glanced my way. I could tell some found it amusing, while some were just glad I was not decapitated. All eyes were on me, anyhow, because you just know Domi’s teammates were wondering why the hell I dared talk to him during his suspension, and were waiting to see how he would react. All I remember thinking is, at least my camera didn’t get smashed, and Domi didn’t sucker punch me – not yet. And no, he didn’t apologize.

Talk about an ice breaker, though. I had nothing to lose now – a stick flew by my head, from Tie Domi, no less. The man was built like a shit brickhouse. I, on the other hand, was built like his hockey stick. Strangely, Domi seemed to relax now, too, and gave me a great interview on how he was managing to keep in game shape during the suspension. In fact, he used very few cliches, unlike Robinson. And, he was politically correct, failing to bad mouth the NHL for the suspension and taking his medicine like a man. I respected him for that.

So there’s my story about almost losing my head via a violent act from none other than Tie Domi, one of the toughest sons of bitches to ever skate in the NHL.

Why did I go after Domi for that interview? Because none of the other reporters at the morning skate dared to talk to the man, that’s why. And I knew it would make for a good story.

Which it did.

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On The Record is published every Saturday at LondonOntarioSports.com. Jeffrey Reed is Southwestern Ontario’s senior sports journalist, with roots dating back to 1980. A three-time author, Reed penned, EBBA 40 Years of Baseball (1994) and, The Canadian Seniors’ Golf Association, Celebrating 100 Years of Seniors Golf 1918-2018 (2018). Reach him at jeff@londonontariosports.com.