Arizona Coyotes star winger Max Domi is beloved for many reasons, not the least of which is his fearlessness. Unfortunately for Coyotes fans, for the past two months, Max Domi has not been able to shine on the ice with Arizona.
Max Domi finally made his long-awaited return to the Arizona Coyotes’ lineup, after his long stint recovering from surgery on his hand. He was penciled in to suit up last Thursday night in the Coyotes matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks. He was placed on the injury reserve with an “upper body injury” in early December after a fight with Garnet Hathaway in an overtime loss to the Calgary Flames. The sophomore forward is primarily a goal scorer, but has earned a reputation for not shying away from dropping the gloves if necessary—a trait likely inherited from his father Tie Domi. It was later announced Domi hand needed surgery and was listed as being out for up to “six to eight weeks”. This left fans feeling ill as their star player was to sit out for two months of the regular season. The Coyotes said that they did expect Domi to make a full recovery and return to the lineup “at some point this season.”
Domi’s absence was yet another blow for the Coyotes, looking to make a step forward this year with its youth and smart signings. During this season he has had success as Domi has five goals and ranks second amongst Coyotes with 16 points while averaging 17:16 a night in ice time in 26 games this season. He, like his father before him also saw some time in the sin bin as his last fight on the ice marked his sixth career regular season fight. Max’s father, Tie Domi, owns the NHL record for most fights in a career after dropping the gloves 338 times in 1,020 games. Whether Max will come close to this number is yet to be seen but given his track record it would seem that Max may not have the same scrappy gene that his father made famous during his time in the NHL.
It’s been since December, 8th that the franchise forward last saw the ice in an NHL game and through 26 games he has five goals and 16 points in points, just behind right winger Radim Vrbata. He also has 11 blocks 18 hits and 22 PIMs.
For fans and teammates alike this has been a long road without their young winger and his long awaited return is much welcome given the Coyotes’ standings in the Pacific. Domi, The 2013 first-round pick scored 18 goals and added 34 assists in 81 games with the Coyotes last season and the Coyotes’ hope to see great numbers from him moving forward this season. Whether or not he returns in full goal scoring form remains unseen, but the team and fans remain hopeful that their star sophomore returns with full force and stays healthy for the remainder of the season with the Coyotes.
