TIE-ING ONE ON THIS CANADA DAY

It wouldn't be right not to write some bittersweet tribute to Tie Domi, who will not be back with the Maple Leafs now that they have exercised the right to buy out his and 41-year-old goalie Ed Belfour's contracts.

Why bittersweet? For good or ill, and it's not his fault, the popular Leafs enforcer reflected the peculiar Toronto sports-fan trait of lionizing mediocre players and forgiving their faults while holding superstars to an standard only Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky could have consistently met. That he was so Tie-ified just speaks to the whole defeatist mindset of the Leafs fan base.

No matter. Domi didn't create that (the Toronto media probably did, going all the way back to the '70s, when the Leafs were sliding into irrevelance and they needed anything to cling to), and you can't fault him for cashing in on it. Besides, he was the last of his kind, in more ways than one: he was one player who seemed like he was from the neighbourhood, who always seemed connected to the fans. It was like he was playing Junior B, not for a NHL team in the largest city in North America where hockey is the No. 1 sport. You don't see that any more.

Of course, he was also the last of his kind in that he will probably stand as the last player who made it to the NHL as a goon. There's no illusions of how Domi kicked open the arena gate. Hey, if you've got it, flaunt it.

One more "last" -- last player drafted in the Harold Ballard era to have a long career for the Leafs. Domi was a 2nd-round pick in 1988, taken by an in-over-his-head general manager, Gord Stellick, to placate an in-over-his-head coach, John Brophy. Stellick's stint as GM was basically an a year-and-a-half audition for a radio gig, and Brophy was a minor-league coach who never should have been there in the first place. You can guarantee none of this makes in into the papers over the next couple weeks, by the way.

That said, Domi, with help from the slightly improved regime the Leafs brought in after Ballard kicked the bucket, made himself into a solid NHLer, reaching the coveted 1,000-game milestone.

There is some risk in writing this as if Tie Domi's through as a NHL player; thing is, he was a Leaf through and through. His years in New York and Winnipeg in the early '90s were pretty much a detour. Besides, it's hard to imagine there being much interest in a reformed enforcer who will soon be 37 years old and has chronic hand, back and shoulder problems, no doubt collateral damage from all those years of dropping the gloves to protect his teammates. Which, in a way, shows you can't always escape what you used to be.

Bleeding Stops For Tie (Toronto Sun)

OTHER BUSINESS

• Trust Damien Cox to throw cold water on the idea of the Leafs re-acquiring Gary Roberts: "The Leafs should exhaust every other free agent option before turning to this one. But they won't." Yes, Cox sometimes seems intent on winning an invite to the Player Haters Ball, but he's right this time. It's baffling why the Leafs always want to bring back veterans they had a few years ago. They haven't won the Stanley Cup in 39 years! There's no place for nostalgia.
• The Warren Zevon of goalies has re-signed: Dwayne Roloson is staying with the Oilers.
• The upshot of Alex Rios possibly going on the disabled list is that it gives the Jays a chance to showcase Eric Hinske as they shop him around in a trade for pitching help, which was suggested here back in early May. Hinske hit leadoff last night, walked and homered his first two times up and helped the Jays cruise to an 8-1 win over the Phillies.
• Here's the summary of what Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo has done this off-season: acquired two usuable seven-footers, which is two more than Toronto had in '05-06; acquired a pass-first point guard, T.J. Ford, solved the issue of having two forwards who didn't complement each other well, and jettisoned two players they weren't going to win with in the limited Matt Bonner and malcontent Eric Williams. That will likely grow to three when Mike James is allowed to leave in free agency. Have to wonder what Colangelo has in mind for the small forward spot now that Charlie V is headed to Beer City.

Happy Canada Day. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.