Max Domi was in high school when Patrick Kane received a pass from Brian Campbell, beat Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen 1-on-1, and fired the puck through Flyers goalie Michael Leighton’s five-hole to giving Chicago its first Stanley Cup Championship since 1961. Some 12 years later, Domi dons a Blackhawks sweater and skates with two legends he idolized as a kid, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
In his first meeting with the Chicago media this morning, Domi told reporters that Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were two of his favorite players and that he loved the Blackhawks when they collected Stanley Cups as a teenager.
“Growing up as a kid, I’m not that young anymore, but I was young enough to watch the Hawks when they won all their Stanley Cups in my era with Kaner and Tazer. So to be able to see that as a kid and now to have the opportunity to wear the sweater with those guys is very special.”
Domi is no stranger to the NHL game, his father Tie played 16 seasons in the NHL and Domi himself is entering his eighth season in the NHL. Still, he spoke enthusiastically about the chance to move to Chicago and play with Kane, whom he called the greatest American-born player of all time, and Toews, whom he put on a pedestal with Sidney Crosby as the heroes of the young Canadian hockey players of his day. .
“I am super happy to be in Chicago. As I said before, [they were] one of my favorite teams growing up. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were two of my favorite players growing up. You look at probably the best American player of all time already [in Kane]and then you have Johnny Toews, and as a Canadian guy, it’s him and Sid [Sidney Crosby] They were the two guys you looked up to. So the chance to play with those two guys, wear that jersey and play for Luke [Richardson] They are the main reasons I chose Chicago, and I am very happy with my decision, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Domi will be able to live out that dream of playing with Kane and Toews this season and will likely be linemates with one or both at some point. How long will that dream live for, who knows at this point? Jonathan Toews isn’t thrilled with the current situation in Chicago, and Patrick Kane’s team hasn’t said anything since the draft.
As for Domi, he’s here on a one-year deal, and while he knows the Blackhawks are in the infancy of rebuilding, he wouldn’t mind being in Chicago for a long time.
“That’s the hard part of the business, right? Contracts can be for one year, or they can be for seven years. In this case, it’s a year, and I’m just focused on getting there for training camp, and I’m really excited to meet all the guys and go to Chicago and see the city. But personally I hope it works, and I’ll be there for a long, long time. Obviously, I understand that it’s a business, and they’re trying to do certain things, but all you can do is try to be a professional every day and try to do your best on the track, be the best teammate that you can. be, and that’s what I’m going to do, and I’m super excited about it.”
In addition to wearing a Blackhawks sweater and playing alongside Kane and Toews, Domi is reunited with former teammates Connor Murphy and Seth Jones and former coach Luke Richardson, with whom he played for two seasons while Richardson was a staff assistant at Claude Julien in Montreal.
Domi played with Seth Jones for one season in Columbus calling him one of the hardest working players in hockey and a great teammate, and Domi played with Connor Murphy in Arizona for two seasons (2015-2017). Despite their fight on the ice last season, Domi insists Murphy is one of his best friends, and he and Murphy have already been in Chicago with Jonathan Toews since Domi signed with the Blackhawks earlier this month. .
“Murph and I are really good friends, he was one of my best friends in Arizona, and he knows that sometimes when my switch works like that, it doesn’t matter who it is, just the reality of the game, but we had a good laugh about it. . I actually saw him, I was in Chicago last week for the day, and I got a chance to chat with him and Jonathan Toews, so that was great, and Murph and I are excited to play together again. I love him to death, and he’s a great hockey player, but an even better guy.”
Still, it was Luke Richardson who sealed the deal for Domi’s desire to come to a sinking Blackhawks team this season, and that can’t be stressed enough.
“To be honest with you, as soon as they hired Luke Richardson as their head coach, I called my agent and said, ‘Hey, I want to go to Chicago.’
Domi explained why playing for Luke Richardson in Chicago was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up:
“He’s probably one of the nicest, humblest, most common guys to talk to that I’ve ever met in hockey,” Domi said. “He has played a long time and has been very successful as a player and a coach. He ask anyone in that D-core in Montreal, including Shea Weber, Carey Price, they all loved him, and it’s no mistake that he got a head coaching job with an original organization of six.
“Luke is one of those guys that makes you excited to go into battle every night; he excites you to learn from; he’s the kind of guy who shows a lot of respect for his players, which is obviously great from our perspective, and you want to work for a guy like that. He is an absolute machine off the ice, in the gym and even on the ice; You’ll see him doing some bag skates and some skating stuff with us after practice and all that if you got hurt or whatever. Those are the kind of people you want to surround yourself with, and he’s one of those guys who walks the talk, and I’ve never met anyone who’s said a bad word about Luke in or out of the game.”
This is so critical to the success of the Blackhawks’ rebuild for two reasons:
1) The respect Richardson shows his players, the example he sets and the work ethic he instills will be critical components in developing the waves of young Blackhawks prospects that will come under his tutelage in Chicago.
2) When the time comes for the Blackhawks to dive back into the deep end of the free-agent pool and add big talent that may be the finishing touches on the final roster, like, say, a Marian Hossa-type signing. Having a head coach who is respected by NHL players who will want to come play for him is a great negotiating tool for Kyle Davidson and the Blackhawks.
As for Domi himself, he’s just looking to put what he called a “crazy couple of years” behind him and get back to playing hockey at the level he knows he can with the Blackhawks, and he’ll have plenty of opportunities to do so. in a top-six role this season.