BROSSARD, Quebec -- Max Domi playing for the Montreal Canadiens will have a couple of their biggest former rivals rooting for them.
The 23-year-old forward, acquired from the Arizona Coyotes in a trade for forward Alex Galchenyuk on June 15, is the son of Tie Domi, who played 11 seasons as a forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Max on Saturday stood in front of the locker room stall displaying his name and the No. 13 jersey he will wear with the Canadiens as a tribute to his boyhood idol, Maple Leafs center Mats Sundin.
"It's a little bit weird to see 13, the last name Domi on the back of a Habs jersey, but I don't really care, I think it looks great," Domi said. "It's a great number. I wore it my whole childhood. I switched to 16 back when I was 12 years old when I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, as a tribute to Bobby Clarke. Obviously 16 is retired here (for Henri Richard and Elmer Lach) so I was shocked that 13 wasn't retired yet and I was like, 'All right, well I'll switch back to that one.' And I'm really excited."
Max, who was born in Winnipeg, had 135 points (36 goals, 99 assists) in 222 games for Arizona, which selected him with the No. 12 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft. Tie had 245 points (104 goals, 141 assists) playing 1,020 NHL games for the New York Rangers, Winnipeg Jets and Toronto, which selected him with the No. 27 pick in the 1988 NHL Draft.
"I definitely can't change my last name, that's for sure, but it's part of who I am and there's a lot of positives that come with that," Max said. "I've got a lot of childhood experiences and memories that you can't make up, getting to go to the Air Canada Centre and getting to call someone like Mats Sundin, like, your uncle, pretty much. I mean he still sends me little workouts to do throughout the summer. And if I don't shoot the puck -- which I didn't shoot the puck that well last year -- he's the first guy to text me."
Domi said he will try to get his father to pose with a Canadiens jersey at his first game at Bell Centre. Montreal's regular-season home opener is Oct. 11 against the Los Angeles Kings.
"If you would have told anyone in their right mind 5-10 years ago that Tie Domi was going to be a Montreal Canadiens fan, they would have looked at you and laughed and said you were crazy," Domi said. "But I'm his son and I'm representing one of the most historic franchises in all sports and he's the biggest Habs fan in the world now. So that's the reality and I'm super-excited to be a part of it, and he's just as pumped."
Domi visited Montreal's practice rink Saturday for the first time since he was traded.
"I mean top to bottom, you've got a general manager (Marc Bergevin) that's been a part of Stanley Cup teams and stuff, and you've got a coach (Claude Julien) that's won a Stanley Cup (with the Boston Bruins)," Domi said. "And then you've got older guys, guys like Shea Weber, who's been a guy that I've been looking up to before I even played in the NHL. You've got the best goalie in the NHL (Carey Price), you've got guys like Brendan Gallagher, guys like [Andrew Shaw], I mean, the list really goes on.
"You've got all the young kids coming up, and just to be a part of that and then to fit in is going to be pretty special. So a huge honor, I'm really, really excited, and I'm not really sure what kind of role I'll have, but whatever that is I'm going to try and do that to the best of my ability."
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