Domi & Belfour Cut Loose By Leafs

They’ve been the face of the Leafs for years and two of their most popular players.

But now the era of Tie Domi and Ed Belfour is officially over in Toronto.

The Buds did what many expected on Friday, officially buying out the contract of Domi and choosing not to renew Belfour’s deal.

Domi still had another year left on his contract and the Leafs will have to pay him $833,000 over the next two years to avoid giving him the $1.25 million he was supposed to get next season.

The 36-year-old was one of the Leafs’ most popular players, their enforcer and a frequent contributor to local charities and community projects.

In the end however, his taste for fisticuffs seemed to wane, as did his already limited offensive skills.

“We want to thank Tie for his many years of service to the organization,” intones G.M. John Ferguson. “He became a fan favourite for a reason and we wish him well in the years ahead.” With offence being accentuated in the new look N.H.L., the Leafs decided it was in their best interest not to bring the right winger back.

“The change in the game, certainly the rules the way it was going to be called, the transition game, the speed, those things you know didn’t play to his strength as well and it became more of a special teams game. Again not an area where he excelled or was relied upon.”

Belfour’s fate was sealed when the Leafs acquired Andrew Raycroft from the Bruins earlier this month. A renewal would have brought the aging netminder nearly $4.5 million, something the club simply couldn’t afford. They’ll pay him two thirds of that as a golden parachute.

Belfour is 41 and has been plagued by back problems in the latter stages of his career. He was only partially effective when he was healthy last season, winning 22 of the 49 games he appeared in. But if his career is over, he leaves with a stellar record – second on the all time N.H.L. list for wins, passing Terry Sawchuk last December 19th.

“Eddie added a lot to the Toronto Maple Leafs and we appreciate all that he did for us,” admits Ferguson. “At this stage, we are taking a different direction, and we feel privileged to have had one of the game’s great goalies play for the Maple Leafs.”

Both players are unrestricted free agents as of Saturday, but it remains to be seen whether other teams will want to shell out the big bucks for the aging veterans now that a salary cap is in place.