No Days Off

by Max Domi

  Here I am celebrating with Charlie Graham. After I joined the Don Mills Flyers, I changed my jersey number to 16 as a tribute to Bobby Clarke. He had type 1 diabetes, too, but he was a legend in the NHL, and he inspired me to keep chasing my dream.

  When my dad called me and said that Wayne Gretzky would be dropping by my practice in London, Ontario, I didn’t know whether or not to believe him. But sure enough, the Great One was there, and getting to spend some time with him was priceless. Claus Andersen

  I’ve met and learned from some amazing players, including Mario Lemieux, who has shared some of his thoughts on the game. He really inspired me by battling back from cancer to play hockey and made me believe that having type 1 diabetes wouldn’t stop me from living my dreams.

  It was amazing winning the Robertson Cup and celebrating with Uncle Ori and Aunt Trish, who are like second parents to me.

  I was still buzzing from Bo Horvat’s last-second goal in Game 7 of the 2013 OHL Finals when I lifted the Robertson Cup for the second time in two years. Playing with the London Knights in the OHL showed me what it was going to take to become a professional hockey player. More than that, it showed me that to do that, I would have to put my health before anything else. Claus Andersen/Getty Images

  Getting drafted to the NHL had been my dream since I was three years old. In 2013, that dream came true when the Phoenix Coyotes drafted me with their first-round pick. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

  Claus Andersen/Getty Images

  Playing for Team Canada at the 2015 World Juniors was one of the proudest moments of my life. There was no better feeling than standing arm-in-arm with my teammates and singing “Oh, Canada” with gold medals around our necks. Just sixteen months later, I got to do it all again in the World Men’s Championship, reunited with Sam Reinhart and Connor McDavid.

  Harry How/Getty Images

  My first couple of years in the NHL had ups and downs. I thought I had a handle on my diabetes management when I entered the league, but I quickly learned that, if I was going to sustain my career in the NHL, I had to take my preparation to a whole new level. Thankfully, I had people like my teammate and friend Jakob Chychrun (left) to help me through that time.

  Orion, my diabetes alert dog, is one of my best friends. He can detect changes to my blood sugar level through scent and can warn me if I’m going high or low, but he’s also an invaluable emotional support—the moment I see him after a long day or a tough game, I forget any frustrations I might have.

  I’ve always been lucky to learn from amazing mentors, including my manager, Allen, who’s helped me through so much in my life.

  Dr. Anne Peters is a world-class diabetes specialist, and she has helped me fine-tune my diabetes management in ways I never would have thought possible. Along the way, she’s become like a second mom to me.

  When I was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in June 2018, I knew I was joining a team with an amazing legacy. Every time I pull on that jersey, I feel a sense of pride and honor to be a part of that. Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images

  Me with my mom and my sisters, Carlin and Avery (top), and me with my Nena; my sister, Carlin; my cousin, Devan; my uncle, Dash; and my sister, Avery (bottom, left to right).

  And me with my grandparents, Harold and Connie Coker. To this day, my family remains one of my biggest supports, and I’m so thankful for all of the sacrifices they’ve made over the years to help me get to where I am today.

  I’ve always believed that with every challenge comes an opportunity, and meeting kids at JDRF events like this is a reminder of that. Living with type 1 diabetes has made me a stronger, better person, and it’s never stopped me from following my dreams. And it doesn’t have to stop anyone else from achieving their dreams, either. Nick Lafontaine

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I’d like to thank my family: my mom, Leanne; my dad, Tie; my sisters, Carlin and Avery; my aunt, Trish; my uncle, Ori; my cousins, Devan, Audrey, and Marlow; my grandma Mayrem; my grandma Connie; my grandpa Harold; all of my Coker aunts, uncles, and cousins.

  Thank you to my friends: Robert Adamo, Victor Adamo, Charlie Graham, Angelo Nitsopoulos, Rory Bell, Del Cherry.

  I’d like to thank Allen Fleishman and his family; Nelson Peltz and his family; Rocket; Scott McKay; John and Lynne Doyle; Mario Boscarino; Jan Winhall; Gail, Scott, and Noah Tooke; Dr. Johanna Carlo; Maria Pereira.

  Thanks to all of my doctors and nurses: Dr. Pearlman, Ana Artiles, Anita Lewis, Dr. Bruce Perkins, Dr. Mike Riddell, Dr. Anne Peters, Dr. Peter Strachan, Dr. Anthony Mascia, Dr. Tony Galea, Dr. Randy Katz.

  Thank you to my chefs: Matt Binkley, Johnny Deflieze, Whitney Deflieze, Ian Ray, Emileigh Kozdas.

  Thank you to Mark Lindsay and Kate Pace Lindsay, Tony Scott, Mark Scappaticci, Tony Galea, Bill Dark, Bill Comrie and family, Jeff Soffer and family, Bob Kaiser and family, Heather McDonough Domi, Mitch Goldhar, Mark Silver and family, Ted Nikolaou and family, Mark Wiseman and family, Mark Wahlberg and family, Nate Schoenfeld and family.

  Thanks to all of my trainers and coaches over the years: Matt Nichol, Andy O’Brien, Adam Lloyd, Mark McKoy, Charlie Francis, Darryl Devonish, Jorge Blanco, Lisa and Rachel Schklar, Lawson Hammer, Dave Reid, Ben Velasquez, Tony Scott, Ian Macintyre, Vic Vescio, Mike Carneiro, Petey Asaro, Jan Winhall, Tommy Powers, Adam Oates, Dawn Braid, Ryan Barnes, Tracey Wilson, Troy Smith, and the EXOS team in Scottsdale, Arizona.

  Thanks to all my teachers and classmates at Upper Canada College, St. Michael’s College, and Saunders Secondary School.

  Thank you to the hockey players that I looked up to and gave me motivation as a kid to play in the NHL: Bobby Clarke, Mats Sundin, Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier.

  Thanks to all of the London Knights staff: Dale Hunter, Mark Hunter, Dylan Hunter, Doug Stacey, Andy Scott, Chris Maton, Kim Sutherland, Jeff Paul, Rob Simpson, Rick Steadman, Rob Ramage, Natalie Wakabayashi, Geoff Haire, Dr. Dieter Bruckschwaiger, Misha Donskov.

  Thanks to all of the Hockey Canada staff: Scott Salmond, Benoit Groulx, Dave Lowry, Scott Walker, Bayne Pettinger, Dr. Ian Auld, Kent Kobelka, Bill Peters, Dave Cameron, Mike Yeo.

  Thank you to the Arizona Coyotes organization: Olivia Matos, Dave Griffiths, JP Major, Curt Truhe, Jason Serbus, Mike Ermatinger, Mikey Griebel, Mike Booey, Don Fuller, Tommy Powers, John MacLean, Scott Allen, Rick Tocchet, Dave Tippett, Jim Playfair, Newell Brown, John Slaney, John Elkin, Dave Zenobi, Tony Silva, Jason Rudee, Eric Ford, Dr. Rob Luberto, Stan Wilson, Denver Wilson, Corey Schwab, Steve Peters, John Chayka, Steve Sullivan, Jason Rudee, Rich Nairn, Greg Dillard.

  Thank you to the Montreal Canadiens organization: Marc Bergevin, Claude Julien, Luke Richardson, Dom Ducharme, Kirk Muller, Mario Leblanc, Stephane Waite, Claudine Crépin, Alain Gagnon, Pierre Gervais, Pierre Ouellette, Pat Langlois, Rich Généreux, Graham Rynbend, Donald Balmforth, Matthew Romano, Claude Thériault, Patrick Delisle-Houde, Pierre Allard, Dr. David Scott, Dominick Saillant, François Marchand, Dr. David Mulder.

  Thank you to the whole staff and all of the sponsors at JDRF, in particular Jessica Diniz. And the entire team at Dexcom.

  Thank you to the staff at Ascensia Diabetes Care, especially Sandra Dallan.

  Thanks to Matt Maccarone, Keesha Davis, and everyone at Nike. Thanks to everyone at Warrior, especially Jared Q, Peter Miller, and Dan Mecrones. And the entire Bauer hockey team, especially Mary Kay Messier and Justin B.

  Thank you to my agent, Pat Brisson, and everyone else at CAA.

  Thanks to everyone at Simon & Schuster Canada, especially my editor, Brendan May.

  Thank you all of the hockey fans out there. Playing the game wouldn’t be the same without you.

  I’d like to thank all of the teammates who I’ve played with since my diabetes diagnosis:

  Seth Griffith, Alex Broadhurst, Olli Määttä, Nikita Zadorov, Tyler Ferry, Scott Harrington, Tommy Hughes, Kevin Raine, Corey Pawley, Justin Sefton, Adam Restoule, Ryan Hamelin, Chris Maton, Jack Nevins, Matt Fuller,
Kevin Bailie, Jared Knight, Greg McKegg, Andreas Athanasiou, Austin Watson, Dane Fox, Jarred Tinordi, Colin Martin, Brett Cook, Troy Donnay, Michael Houser, Chase Hatcher, Jake Worrad, Noah Schwartz, Tyson Teichmann, Kyle Flemington, Connor Brown, Daniel Campini, Patrick McCarron, Eric Comrie, Zach Fucale, Madison Bowey, Dillon Heatherington, Joe Hicketts, Sam Morin, Josh Morrissey, Darnell Nurse, Shea Theodore, Robby Fabbri, Frédérik Gauthier, Curtis Lazar, Connor McDavid, Nick Paul, Nic Petan, Brayden Point, Sam Reinhart, Nick Ritchie, Jake Virtanen, Kayle Doetzel, Ryan Kujawinski, Jérémy Grégoire, Yan-Pavel Laplante, Chris Bigras, Nathan MacKinnon, Morgan Klimchuk, Adam Bateman, Alex Yuill, Jordan Subban, Steve Varga, Michael Vlajkov, Bryson Cianfrone, Tomáš Tatar, Jonathan Drouin, Phillip Danault, Jeff Petry, Brendan Gallagher, Andrew Shaw, Shea Weber, Paul Byron, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Artturi Lehkonen, Joel Armia, Jordie Benn, Brett Kulak, Victor Mete, Mike Reilly, Jordan Weal, Kenny Agostino, Matthew Peca, Nate Thompson, Charles Hudon, Nicolas Deslauriers, Noah Juulsen, Michael Chaput, Christian Folin, Ryan Poehling, Xavier Ouellet, David Schlemko, Tomáš Plekanec, Karl Alzner, Antti Niemi, Carey Price, Charlie Lindgren, Dale Weise, Clayton Keller, Derek Stepan, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Christian Dvorak, Alex Goligoski, Christian Fischer, Brendan Perlini, Kevin Connauton, Jason Demers, Nick Cousins, Richard Pánik, Tobias Rieder, Anthony Duclair, Jordan Martinook, Brad Richardson, Jakob Chychrun, Josh Archibald, Dylan Strome, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Zac Rinaldo, Luke Schenn, Mario Kempe, Trevor Murphy, Adam Clendening, Lawson Crouse, Marek Langhamer, Nick Merkley, Kyle Capobianco, Laurent Dauphin, Adin Hill, Joel Hanley, Louis Domingue, Freddie Hamilton, Dakota Mermis, Darcy Kuemper, Scott Wedgewood, Antti Raanta, Shane Doan, Martin Hanzal, Jamie McGinn, Connor Murphy, Alexander Burmistrov, Tony DeAngelo, Ryan White, Peter Holland, Josh Jooris, Michael Stone, Teemu Pulkkinen, Tyler Gaudet, Zbynek Michalek, Jamie McBain, Justin Peters, Mike Smith, Mikkel BØdker, Antoine Vermette, Alex Tanguay, Kyle Chipchura, Klas Dahlbeck, Nicklas Grossmann, Steve Downie, Viktor Tikhonov, Stefan Elliott, Boyd Gordon, Dustin Jeffrey, JiřÍ Sekáč, Craig Cunningham, John Scott, Sergei Plotnikov, Anders Lindbäck, Eric Selleck, Joe Vitale, Christian Thomas, Niklas Treutle, Philip Samuelsson, Alex Grant, Mitch Marner, Matt Rupert, Julius Bergman, Michael McCarron, Aaron Berisha, Chandler Yakimowicz, Aiden Jamieson, Owen MacDonald, Josh Sterk, Chris Martenet, Brandon Crawley, Zach Grzelewski, Drake Rymsha, Jack Hidi, John Warren, Cliff Pu, Tait Seguin, Michael Giugovaz, Joel Wigle, Eric Henderson, Mitchell Kreis, Tyler Nother, Kevin Klima, Tyler Parsons, Emanuel Vella, Josh Defarias, Tristen Elie, Kelly Klima, Ryan Valentini, Chris Tierney, Bo Horvat, Ryan Rupert, Josh Anderson, Kyle Platzer, Zach Bell, Tim Bender, Santino Centorame, Miles Liberati, Remi Elie, Jacob Jammes, Anthony Stolarz, Jake Paterson, Paxton Leroux, Cam Garrow, Owen Stewart, Liam Herbst, Justin Tugwell, Spencer Hutchinson.

  There isn’t enough room here to thank everyone in my life who has helped me get to where I am today. I wouldn’t be where I am without you. Thank you, all.

  —Max Domi

  In the spring of 2017 my trusty agent, Brian Wood, called me with an offer. He asked if I would be interested in meeting with Simon & Schuster about doing a book with Max Domi.

  I agreed to the meeting and was fascinated with the concept. This wasn’t going to be a hockey book per se. This was going to be a book about a young man who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was twelve years old and somehow beat the odds to make it to the NHL. That was all I needed to hear, and in May 2017 we started the process of putting the book together.

  There are many people who made the writing of this book possible.

  First off, I would like to thank my amazing wife, Patricia, and our daughters, Adriana and Cassandra. I would not have been able to write this book without their patience and understanding. Thanks to our cat KitKat (don’t ask) for not erasing any of my files while she was walking across my laptop! Our dog Hershey slept through the whole thing.

  As always, thanks to my parents for instilling in me the work ethic I needed to complete this task and meet all of the deadlines.

  Just as the Oilers would never trade Connor McDavid, I would never trade my agent, Brian Wood, for anything. He works so hard, and if I ever need anything, he is always there for me. That’s what I call an All-Star; thanks, Brian.

  The staff at Simon & Schuster Canada always set the bar very high. From the publisher Kevin Hanson on down to the newest intern, you will be hard-pressed to find a finer group of people in the publishing business.

  Once again, my editor, Brendan May, was awesome throughout the entire process. Brendan is as good as it gets, and he proved it helping to put this book together.

  Big thumbs-up to the management and staff at my radio station, 105.9 The Region, for being so accommodating during the writing process.

  A number of websites were crucial to telling Max’s story. They include: jdrf.ca (juvenile diabetes), diabetes.ca, NHL.com/Coyotes, NHL.com, TSN.ca, Sportsnet.ca, thehockeynews.com, londonknights.com, ontariohockeyleague.com, Hockeydb.com, Hockey-reference.com, Hockeyfights.com, and YouTube.com.

  The Arizona Coyotes were incredibly supportive and helpful from day one. Special thanks to general manager John Chayka, Coach Rick Tocchet, executive VP of communications and broadcasting Rich Nairn, and his entire staff of dedicated professionals. Thanks to Clayton Keller, the rest of the players, and the entire Coyotes support staff.

  There is a long list of Max’s friends and family who all took time to speak to me. I must say that, despite their busy schedules, not one of them—including Darnell Nurse, Bo Horvat, Scott Harrington, Connor Murphy, Chris Tierney, and Josh Anderson—hesitated when I told them I needed to speak to them about Max.

  London Knights trainer Doug Stacey and everyone else on the team were very generous with their time.

  After speaking with Max’s billet mom, Gail Tooke, I can see why Max liked her as much as he did.

  Thanks to Max’s personal chef in Scottsdale, Ian, for the great food and the great information. (Great tattoos, by the way. I’m due for another one.)

  Not only is the Coyotes’ home rink, the Gila River Arena, a solid barn to see a game, In-N-Out Burger is perfectly situated halfway between the rink and Scottsdale. (#Heaven)

  Max often talks about how close he is to his sisters, Carlin and Avery, and how much they mean to him. After getting to know them better while writing this book, I can see why he thinks so highly of them.

  A big stick tap to someone whom I have had the privilege of getting to know quite well over the past few years: Max’s father, Tie. You might have heard of him.

  The glue that held this book together is the same glue that holds Max’s family together: his mom, Leanne. Leanne was an invaluable resource for dates, names, and family memories.

  And last, but certainly not least, there is Max Domi.

  I first met Max while he was playing for the London Knights. I was cowriting his father’s book at the time, and I was immediately impressed by what a mature young man Max was.

  I knew Max had type 1 diabetes and that he had overcome a lot to get to where he was. But until I started working with him on a regular basis, I had no idea just how much he had to endure in order to make it to the NHL.

  From May 2017 until Max left for training camp at the end of August, I would arrive at his house in Toronto once a week. I witnessed firsthand just how dedicated Max is when it comes to getting ready to play in the NHL—the blood tests, the self-injections of insulin, and everything else that goes with living life as a person with type 1 diabetes. I was even more impressed by his strict gluten-free diet and the lengths that he goes to in order to make sure he is eating the right foods. (Although I must say, gluten-free donuts do not taste the same as regular donuts.)

  I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Max and spending all that time together to really understand what he is all about. If I were an NHL general manager or a coach, I would say that Max Domi is the kind of quality young man who could play for my team anytime.

  Thanks for a great exp
erience, Max; and your dog Orion really is awesome.

  —Jim Lang

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH © NICK LAFONTAINE

  MAX DOMI is a professional hockey player, currently with the Montreal Canadiens. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at twelve years old. Domi is an active partner with a number of charities. He lives in Montreal, Quebec.

  @Max_Domi

  @Max

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  Copyright © 2019 by Max Domi

  A portion of all proceeds will be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

  No Days Off describes the author’s personal experience living with type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. It does not constitute or contain medical advice.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Simon & Schuster Canada Subsidiary Rights Department, 166 King Street East, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario, M5A 1J3, Canada.