Can do without brawling in the pre-season
By LANCE HORNBY
Toronto Sun
September 23, 2002

Tie Domi has come to dread the National Hockey League's exhibition schedule.

Not because of the usual training camp grind and the ultimately meaningless games, but for the platform it gives to wannabe enforcers.

Domi needed to look no further than Saturday in Buffalo where Chris Neil, the Ottawa Senators' young penalty minute leader, broke his fibula wrestling with Buffalo's Sean McMorrow. Neil will be out six weeks, which could give former Edmonton Oilers ruffian Dennis Bonvie a job.

"It's an unfortunate incident that could happen at any time," Domi said yesterday morning at the Air Canada Centre. "But I don't drop my gloves like I used to in junior just to help someone try to make a team. That's not in my plan at all. There's no need for it unless someone does something drastic to one of your teammates. Then it's a given."

Despite his reluctance to duke it out, Domi does have a breaking point. Against the Ottawa Senators last night, Domi was targeted by Wade Brookbank. Domi had little choice but to drop the gloves Brookbank, by the way, earned the instigator.

Domi admits he tried to make exhibition games his stage when he first broke into the league in the early 1990s. He had more than 500 penalty minutes as a junior with Peterborough and his nearly spotless won-loss record was the talk of many NHL camps.

"I tried (picking fights) as a rookie, but the veterans laughed at you sometimes," Domi said. "I used to beg them to fight, just like guys are begging me now. Bob Probert wouldn't fight me for three years and that's when I was already in the NHL.

"You have to earn it."

But not at Domi's expense.

"It's more important to get through this month healthy," Domi said. "I'm here to get my timing down and get used to the new rules.

"Hopefully I get an opportunity to play penalty killing or power play. You never know. You get one chance and you never know what happens."

Last night Domi took full advantage, scoring a power-play goal and a short-hander marker.