To no one's surprise, Ferguson yesterday announced the team's intention to buy Domi out of the final year of his contract today and that it would not be picking up the option on goalie Ed Belfour's contract.

Ferguson was ebullient in his praise for both veteran players, but acknowledged that time has passed them by.

"There has been a change in the game, the rules, the way it's called — there's a transition game, lots of speed and it doesn't play to his strengths," Ferguson said of Domi. "There's also special teams and that's not where he excelled. It would have been hard for him to get a role where he could contribute the way he wanted."

The speed of the new game was not something that was a huge problem for Domi. He remained an above-average skater and was still fairly effective on the forecheck. The main reason he was rendered expendable is that he could no longer stand up for teammates physically. His hand, shoulder and back injuries have been well-documented and basically led to him losing his No. 1 enforcer role to Wade Belak.

In fact, in an interview late last season, Domi acknowledged he was defeated badly by Ottawa Senators lunkhead Brian McGratton, but also shockingly admitted he was waiting for Nathan Perrott to handle the duties before Domi felt as though he had to fight McGratton.

As far as the speed of the game is concerned, the Leafs might even get slower by releasing Domi and replacing him with Gary Roberts, who has a much better offensive game than Domi and certainly brings more to the rink, but has been slowed significantly in recent years by a recurring groin injury.

Although his skills declined significantly, there is little doubt that at one time Domi was the best player among NHL enforcers. And he will undoubtedly go down in history with some of the all-time great enforcers such as John Ferguson Sr., Tiger Williams and Bob Probert.

The acquisition of Andrew Raycroft from the Boston Bruins last week made Belfour's exit official, but his wildly erratic play last season sealed his fate.

Raycroft, 26, won 14 fewer games than Belfour last season and his .879 save percentage, fourth-worst among goalies who played 10 or more games, was inferior to Belfour's .892.

Domi, meanwhile, did not speak publicly yesterday. He was playing in Mario Lemieux's charity golf tournament in suburban Pittsburgh, which was closed to the public. Domi's agent, Pat Morris, suggested it might be a while before Domi goes public, saying it would probably be best to wait until he is less emotional.

"He was always proud to wear the Maple Leaf uniform and play his 1,000th game for them. He didn't want to be traded or go anywhere else, as we saw in his last two contract negotiations, so he's deeply disappointed," Morris said.

Ferguson said Domi was told about a month ago of the team's plans to buy him out.

Domi's buyout will cost $1.25 million (all figures U.S.) against the salary cap next season and Belfour, who would have earned $4.5 million had he played, will receive $1.54 million, which can be spread over two years against the cap. Those commitments mean the Leafs will have $2.002 million charged against the cap next season.

"These are quality professionals who gave us great service and loyalty," Ferguson said. "Tie, over his career, did a tough, tough job for longer than people could have expected."

Morris said Domi hasn't decided if he'll try to catch on with another team. If he does, he would undoubtedly love to join a fierce rival such as the Ottawa Senators or Montreal Canadiens, but there doesn't appear to be much interest from either team.