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Tie Domi calls Scott Stevens 'the biggest phony I ever played against'

Andrew Zuber
·2 min read

While we are in an indefinite break from any on-ice hockey news or updates about games, why not drum up a 20-plus-year-old rivalry?

Tie Domi, a pugilist who threw fists and plied his trade for three teams over his 16-year NHL career, let it be known that he thought Scott Stevens, another fearsome player from the 1990’s and early 2000’s, was not the tough guy he was portrayed to be.

“Scott Stevens was the biggest phony I ever played against,” Domi said on the Cam & Strick Podcast, hosted by former NHL player Cam Janssen and reporter Andy Strickland. “Honestly, I chased that guy for years. He was such a phony, it was a joke. Let me put that out there.”

Stevens, who played 22 years in the league and has a lengthy highlight reel of thunderous body checks, is not exactly the type of player most hockey players would spend time trash talking.

Domi admits that of course, Stevens could lay an opponent out with a check, but always stopped short of dropping the gloves with him.

“That guy used to target all the best players on my teams and I always tried to fight him, and he would never fight,” Domi said. “He never, ever answered the bell.

“He was a good hitter, obviously, but he targeted the wrong guys at very vulnerable times and he never answered the bell.”

Tie Domi doesn't think very highly of Scott Stevens as a hockey player. (Getty Images)
Tie Domi doesn't think very highly of Scott Stevens as a hockey player. (Getty Images)

Stevens won three Stanley Cups in his career, racking up 2,785 penalty minutes in his 1,635 games. The authority on the subject, HockeyFights.com, lists him as recording 101 fighting majors.

The tale of the tape on Domi lists 1,020 career games with 3,515 penalty minutes, good for third-most all-time. HockeyFights.com gives him an astronomical 270 fighting majors.

It could, of course, be argued that Stevens was a 13-time All-Star, made All-NHL first or second-team five times, and played top-pairing minutes while being second in all-time defensive point shares. While Domi was... not.

But don’t let those stats get in the way of a good story, as old as it may be.

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