Max Domi #16 of the Arizona Coyotes in action during the NHL game against the Minnesota Wild at Gila River Arena on October 15, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

alongtheboards.com
JON KLIMENT

The Coyotes dropped their first game of the 2015-16 season on Thursday night and social media started housing the boo birds. However a quick look at their record, a surprising 3-1 out of the gate against teams like Pittsburgh, LA, and Anaheim, shows the impact that Max Domi has already had on the Coyotes in his first pro season.

GROWING UP MAX DOMI

While everyone is starting to take notice of this new youthful vigor in the desert, social media is blowing up about this young team and its bright new star, the son of former NHL tough guy Tie Domi. Max, of course, has his roots deep into the hockey hot beds of his early life growing up as the son of a professional player, and of course an elite player at all levels right along himself in his own right.

Domi has shown one facet of his game that his father was never able to quite master, scoring goals. His father Tie posted only 104 goals in his entire career in the NHL and well Max already has three and shows no signs of slowing down.

ADVERSITY

Many fans are not aware that this young kid drafted by the Coyotes in 2011 at No. 8, is also a diabetic. At 12 year old, Max was diagnosed and of course the first question he asked the doctors was whether he could continue playing hockey. When he got the go ahead, he had to figure out how to make it work around his schedule.

“There was a process, but it seemed to work out in the end,” Domi told Yahoo! Sports.

Max has to constantly wear an insulin pump on his hip at all times, even while playing, but this didn’t stop him from winning a World Junior gold medal and being a first rounder at the NHL draft. When Max was brought up by the Coyotes this preseason and asked what number he wanted to wear, he continued to wear number 16 in honor of Bobby Clark who also had diabetes.

Right now, Domi continues to turn heads as the Coyotes are heating up and are looking far from the team predicted by most to finish the season in dead last, but when you take a closer look, he is not only an inspiration on the ice, but off it as well.

It may only be four games into the season, but if this trend continues through the season, come June the Calder Trophy may have found a spot on Max Domi’s shelf.