"Never change bud": Leafs' Max Domi pens heartfelt Father's Day message for his '1 of 1' dad Tie Domi

Maple Leafs forward Max Domi posted a series of Instagram stories on Sunday to celebrate Father’s Day, honoring his dad and former NHL enforcer Tie Domi.

One of the pictures showed a throwback photo from the ice rink, where a young Max and his sister Carlin stood next to their dad. In the caption, he wrote:

“Happy Father’s Day to my best friend. Love you bud.”

Another story featured a video of Tie Domi driving a car while vibing to music, wearing sunglasses and a black polo shirt. Max tagged his dad’s handle, @tie_domi, in the clip.

The last story showed Tie Domi standing on a city street at night during Christmas filming himself and vibing to the music.

“You’re 1 of 1. Never change bud,” Max Domi captioned the story.

Tie Domi played 16 seasons in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and the Winnipeg Jets. He accumulated 3,515 penalty minutes during his career, which is the third most in NHL history, and recorded 333 fighting majors. In 1,020 games, Domi scored 104 goals and had 141 assists before retiring in 2006.

Tie Domi and his partner Leanne Domi married in 1993 and the couple have three children, two daughters , Carlin and Avery Rose , followed by their son Max.

Max Domi pens moving message for mother Leanne

Earlier last weekend, Max Domi joined the 2025 Breakthrough T1D Walk organized by Breakthrough T1D Canada. He took part in the event with his mother Leanne Domi and met young fans during the walk.

Domi later shared an Instagram story from the finish line where he posed with his mom. In the caption, he reflected on his childhood with Type 1 diabetes and mentioned how much she has supported him battling his way through the condition.

“My mom used to have to wake up at 3 am every single night to test my blood glucose levels when I was a kid. Wouldn’t be where I am without you. Love you mom.”

“You’re the best! ❤️” he added.

The Breakthrough T1D Walk, formerly known as the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes, is a national fundraising event that raises money and awareness for Type 1 diabetes research in Canada. It brings together families, volunteers, sponsors and supporters to help fight the disease.

About the author

Anjum is an NHL reporter at Sportskeeda with over five years of professional experience in the spectator sports industry. Raised in Bahrain, Anjum grew up close to the Formula 1 and GP2 scene, but it was ice-sports that she truly had a chance to play at school.

Anjum prioritizes thorough research, fact-checking and verification of sources when reporting, and has worked for Oil on Whyte, Leafs Herald, the Nation of Blaugrana, Barca International Cules, FromTheBend, Last Word On Sports and NASA.

She got interested in ice hockey after watching the “MVP” trilogy as a second grader and has not gotten over the sport yet. Her favorite player is Alex Ovechkin, whose legendary one-timers live rent free in her heart. The iconic moment when Ovechkin reached 800 career goals with a hat trick in Chicago as the away crowd chanted “Ovi, Ovi” is probably her happiest memory from an ice-rink.

When not enjoying the game, Anjum can be found sailing, star-mapping or collaborating with fellow citizen scientists at NASA.

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Edited by Anjum Rajonno