Mirë upafshim Tie

Everyone's favourite Maple Leaf Tie Domi is retiring from the NHL after spending the last 11 seasons in Toronto.

Chris Young eulogizes Tie with a few nice clips from YouTube. A tad unfairly, Domi will be remembered for a couple of high profile cheap shots. The first one was on Ulf Samuelsson and anyone that was a fan of Cam Neely, and knees in general, would probably admit that they cheered when they saw Domi drop Ulfie. What I liked was the "clean"-ness of this dirty hit. Domi did not attack someone from behind like Todd Bertuzzi or Matt Johnson did. He squared up to Ulf, dropped his glove, and then gave Ulf what he deserved for ruining Neely's career. I would like to think that Cam sent Tie a nice gift basket the next day. It did not even land him on the longest NHL suspensions list (8 games).

His other famous cheapshot did. His elbow to Scott Neidermayer's head cost him 11 games and the Leafs the series.

However, I will remember him for his refusal to back down from fights, his willingness to defend his teammates, and his child-like excitement. The biggest thing that I will remember is how he helped save the Easter Seals skate for my pee-wee hockey team. We had raised enough to win the corporate and team skate event but were erroneously registered in the individual skate. Of course, by the time the individual skate got on the ice all of the Leafs stars were gone and only Bobby Orr (yes, it was a nice consolation) stayed. A coach of ours wrote a letter to the team letting them know that we were really disappointed and Domi responded with signed pictures for all of us. That is a true example of the kind of guy that he is and he will be missed by all Leafs fans. His time has passed but we'll remember him as our Tie.

p.s. does that really say goodbye in Albanian? does anyone know?

Update: Tie is joining TSN!

Verbal Diarrhea and a Tribute

Nick Kypreos
They are almost synonomous. Now, it looks like Sportsnet is going to base their search for increased irreverence and continued credibility around scrambled eggs for brains Kypreos. It was bad enough that they let go of Scotty Morrison but now they are trying to paint Kypreos as the saviour of HockeyCentral?

"You don't invest eight years in a guy like Nick and then let him go," Akande says. "Nick is a star who has built the Sportsnet brand. When people think of Sportsnet, they think of Nick Kypreos and we'll do our best to keep it that way."

You should do just that when you realize that you have an absolute tool on your hands. Nick has never been a star. He is most known for this infamous ending to his career (the only clip of him on YouTube). When people think of morons that are full of themselves they think of Nick Kypreos.

This is, by the way, the same Nick Kypreos who was so rough around the edges he was almost fired after his first season.

They had their chance and blew it. Thank God it's been trimmed down to a weekly show. If they do not keep Watters around to constantly call Kypreos on his idiocy then they might as well quit talking about 'credibility'.

Domi
I never had a chance to properly say goodbye to Tie, one of my favourite Leafs, so here is one of his last fights. His long-time nemesis on the sens Chris Neil, he of the patented 'slash, hook, lip off, run away from a fight' move, finally tries to show that he is a man. Domi gloriously reminds him why the Leafs have eliminated the sens in four out of four playoff meetings.