Burnside: Domi's Arrival & Transition To The Canes

RALEIGH, NC. -Maybe this is the moment that distills all of the excitement and, yes, the anxiety and the layers of details, some mundane, some critical, that have all cascaded through Max Domi's life in the past 27 hours.

Domi has found a place to park his vehicle in the player parking lot at PNC Arena. A security attendant makes his way to the parking area to make sure he is, in fact, a player and not some curly-haired interloper looking for a prime parking spot.
Longtime Vice President of Communications and Team Services Mike Sundheim has grabbled Domi's sticks from the back of the SUV, and as Domi steps away with his Columbus Blue Jackets hockey bag incongruously slung over one shoulder, a PNC Arena staffer security officers steps up.
No introduction is necessary for him.
"Are you playing tonight?" he asks the newest Hurricane.
"No. Not tonight," Domi explains.
"Well, good luck," the staffer said with a friendly wave.
Climbing the steps of the loading dock and into the arena, Domi's first steps into PNC Arena as a home player and not a member of a visiting team, he was greeted by a gauntlet of arena staffers offering their welcome.
Domi dutifully responds to each 'welcome to Raleigh', 'Good luck', 'Glad to have you' and 'Welcome to the Hurricanes'.
"It's surreal man. Honestly. I've never experienced this before. I've been traded a couple of times before but that's kind of like you have the whole training camp and all that but you're walking into an NHL game it's pretty surreal. I'm just so excited," Domi said of those first moments inside his new NHL home.
Domi woke up Monday morning a Columbus Blue Jacket.
As a pending unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and with Columbus retooling and out of the playoff race, the 27-year-old knew his name was in the trade deadline winds.
Monday was a maintenance day for Domi who'd taken a puck off the foot a couple of games ago. Still, he went to the rink in the morning.
The team was scheduled to fly late that afternoon to Pittsburgh for a game Tuesday night. But Domi would not be on that flight. Instead, shortly after the 3 p.m. ET trade deadline, he got a call from Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen telling him he'd been traded to Carolina.
"The weird part was I was with all the boys and they had a flight at five. And they kind of had an idea I was going to get moved. I kind of thought I would but maybe not kind of thing. I don't know. It's trade deadline so anything can happen," Domi explained.
"There weren't really many conversations about it. So I was just kind of sitting there waiting to see if it was going to happen. So that was the weirdest part because I didn't officially get to say goodbye. I left the rink kind of uncertain about what was going to happen," Domi said.
Certainly there was a mixture of emotions as it appeared that the deadline would pass without a trade. Still, Domi saw on social media a report from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman that Columbus and Carolina were working on a deal in the waning minutes before the 3 p.m. ET deadline so he knew something was afoot.
In Raleigh, Domi's good friend (and as it would turn out apartment finder) and personal advocate Tony DeAngelo was watching the deadline transactions with a close eye, too.
Like many of Domi's former teammates who are in Carolina, Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jordan Martinook, DeAngelo had been asked about Domi as a player and as a person.
"I was a big advocate of Max from anytime I talked to anybody in management or whatever it's going to be. I always put his name out there. I knew he could be a guy available. He's a guy that I really think could help us big-time," DeAngelo said. "I think this is going to be great for him to get under Roddy. This is my first year under Roddy but I'm a big believer already in how he can get guys going in the right direction. I think Max will fit in perfect. We've been so close since we played together in Arizona."
DeAngelo was thrilled that his longtime pal might be joining the Hurricanes, but as the time slipped away Monday, he too figured it wasn't meant to be.
Then his brother sent a note saying he saw a report from TSN's Pierre LeBrun that a deal was in the works to send Domi to Carolina. Soon after he got a call from his pal about the trade.
DeAngelo's girlfriend recorded the two chatting about the news.
"My girlfriend was actually videoing me and him FaceTiming each other," DeAngelo said. "I said we'll need to leave him alone, he'll call me if it happens. And then three minutes later, 3:03 or whatever it was when it went through, boom, we spoke on the phone."
The first official call with GM Don Waddell and head coach Rod Brind'Amour, who were together, was brief but helped put things in motion to begin the formal transition for Domi from Blue Jacket to Hurricane.
"It was a short conversation but obviously they knew I was pretty pumped and really excited, so just talking a little bit about that and Rod said just get down here and we'll sit down and we'll talk a little bit more," Domi said. "It was pretty brief but super exciting."
Those first calls triggered a domino effect that was being replicated around the NHL after a surprisingly busy trade deadline. The rapid movement from trade completion to getting that new player with his new team and teammates as quickly as logistics allow.
Let's just say there are a lot of moving parts starting with Domi collecting his gear and arranging to get himself to North Carolina.
"The trainers there (in Columbus) are unbelievable," Domi said. "Everything was already packed. It was literally just sitting in my stall. All my hockey stuff. All my sticks and whatnot were all there. It was a quick little trip (to Nationwide Arena) but definitely emotional in a weird way. I wasn't there for that long. I don't know if it was because of the COVID season or what but it felt like I was there for a lot longer than just a year and a half. Met some great people and have some friendships that will last a lifetime. It was sad to go. I think they've got an exciting future for sure."
Initially the plan was for Domi to drive his vehicle and gear et al from Columbus to Carolina, but then Domi's personal trainer and friend who was in Columbus offered to make the drive so he could take a flight.
The gear arrived several hours before Domi's flight, a connector through Washington, and thanks to the work of DeAngelo there was actually a place to put the gear and some of the other materials loaded into Domi's vehicle.
Normally an incoming player will post up at a hotel suggested by the team until more permanent lodging can be found. But DeAngelo accelerated the process.
"So I told him the easiest thing is probably to live in my building. I got in touch with the lady (from the apartment complex), she called him and now we'll be a couple of floors apart tonight," DeAngelo said a few hours after Domi arrived in Raleigh.
"I think it'll be good. We've got a lot guys living in the same area. You're going to go to dinner. You're going to adjust," DeAngelo said. "There's only 19 games left to go by the time he gets in (to the lineup) on Thursday. We've got to get him acclimated quick and get him ready to go."
Is DeAngelo looking for a little commission on the side for all his backroom diligence?
"I don't know what his agent's taking. If his agent's taking 3% I might try to get the extra percent, I might try to bring him to four," DeAngelo said. "But we'll go to dinner tomorrow. The first dinner's on me though. Max is a generous guy so I'm going to try and beat him to the credit card."

Sundheim has been in regular contact with Domi and other team officials, as well as the apartment management since the trade was finalized. He is parked just outside the arrival doors at Raleigh-Durham International Airport when Domi emerges. He's done lots of these pickups, although it's always a little bit more urgent at the trade deadline than when players are coming in for development camp or training camp.
It's a quick trip to the new apartment in Raleigh's North Hills area so Domi can change and get first looks at his new abode, and then pick up his vehicle and head back to the rink before the night's game versus Tampa Bay.
On the way to the apartment, Domi chats with Sundheim about Sundheim's long tenure with the team. He also inquires about Brind'Amour's protocol for players who aren't in the lineup. What time does he want them to show up at the rink? He asks about other team rules like the dress code for the team when they are traveling.
All of this intel will become second nature to Domi in the coming days, but getting as much intel as possible as early as possible is comforting to Domi.
Then Sundheim's phone rings through to the car's speakers and it's popular head strength and conditioning coach Bill Burniston who is checking on Domi's schedule.
"I can't tell you how friggin' excited we are to have you," Burniston said.
Burniston explains that Brind'Amour would like to avoid having Domi arrive in the locker room just as the team is going through final preparations for their game against Tampa Bay, and Domi wholeheartedly agrees.
"I just don't want to get in the way of anything," Domi said.
The plan is that Domi will meet the guys after the game, and even though Burniston admits the players have already given him a hard time about it, the expectation is that Domi will do a workout in the team gym once the guys are on the ice to start the game.
"I'm down for whatever," Domi said.
Once at Domi's new apartment building the manager guides Domi to his new two-bedroom apartment that already has a moved-in feel to it thanks to the arrival of supplies from Columbus. She's brought a bottle of wine as a welcome gift and quickly rattles off which of his new teammates live on which floors in the building.
There are supplies and small bits of luggage scattered around the living and kitchen area. Other materials have already been laid into the refrigerator.
Domi is Type 1 diabetic - has been since he was 12 - and so the fact that a ready store of medication has already been set into the apartment is another key factor in a seamless transition.
"A lot of preparations but when it goes smooth, it's nice," Domi said.
Domi jokes that he might have to change the interior color of his SUV - a rich shade of blue - to red to match the Hurricanes' prominent color. And as he pulls into the PNC Arena complex he's taken aback by the number of cars lined up to park and the pre-game tailgating already well underway on this picture-perfect Tuesday night.
"It is always this busy?" he asks.
And he wonders aloud what it will be like when the playoffs start in about six weeks.

Spending time with Domi upon his arrival in Raleigh put us in mind of some time we spent with Domi during his rookie season in Arizona in 2015-16. We had covered his father, legendary tough guy Tie Domi, when Tie Domi was a high-profile member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
During that Arizona trip, we found Domi an engaging and open person.
He confessed to not really having much experience with the stove in his condo near Scottsdale and talked candidly about growing up with an NHL dad with a huge profile and personality to match.
At the time Domi was in the process of getting a diabetic service dog to help him balance his life as an NHL player and his diabetes. The dog's name was Orion.
Fast forward 6 ½ years and Domi is a proper NHL veteran now pulling on his fourth NHL jersey with stops in Montreal and Columbus also on his resume.
Orion remains with Domi, although the dog is now retired as a service animal.
"He's my best buddy," Domi said.
Orion and a Bengal cat Domi has added to his family have gone home to Toronto with Domi's girlfriend in anticipation of the kind of sudden move that has him now in Raleigh.
Watching him we think of first days at a new school or on a new job. The nervousness. The excitement at the unknown.
"It's excitement for sure and I think any time with excitement comes nerves," said Domi, who has received calls and texts from around the NHL, including a call from Carolina owner Tom Dundon that lasts about half an hour. "If you're not going to get nervous you're not a human, right? It's part of being a human. I'm ecstatic about the opportunity and it's such a good hockey team and I know first-hand how hard they are to play against. This team's another level for sure and just to be a little chip in that is going to be fun."
After working out with Burniston - "he's a beauty," Domi notes - he watches the game in the press box with Martinook and former Hurricane Justin Williams.
At one point he is shown on the video scoreboard during the game and the crowd responds with a raucous cheer of approval.
After the game, a
3-2 Carolina win
that stops a four-game winless slide, Brind'Amour makes a brief appearance in the locker room. As he closes his address to the team, Brind'Amour points at Domi - "Say hello," he says - prompting a nice round of applause from his new teammates.
Fewer than 48 hours later he'll be in the lineup for his first game as a Hurricane.
As if he'd been here all along.
Worth A Click:
Preview: Canes vs. Stars
Domi Ready To Roll In Raleigh
Burnside: Examining The Lead-Up To The Deadline For The Canes
Canes Acquire Domi, Inamoto In Three-Team Deal
Kotkaniemi Elated To Be A Cane For The Long Haul
Canes Ink Kotkaniemi To Eight-Year Extension
Hurricanes March Schedule
NHL Standings