'We're done with getting pushed around,' Canadiens Arber Xhekaj says

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If Arber Xhekaj has to take the regulation into his personal arms, the Canadiens defenceman seems ready to take action.

That grew to become obvious all through Montreal’s exhibition video games and its 1-0 regular-season opening win Wednesday evening towards Toronto.

“At instances it positively felt like, over the past two years, groups had been operating us,” Xhekaj stated this week following apply. “It felt like we had been getting pushed round and didn’t have any push-back. The larger, stronger groups felt like they had been throwing us across the ice and weren’t taking us critically. It’s essential to let groups know we’re completed with getting pushed round; this isn’t the yr for that. We’re not going to again all the way down to any group. We don’t care who you might be.”

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Limitless on-line entry to our award-winning journalism together with thought-provoking columns by Allison Hanes, Josh Freed and Invoice Brownstein.Alternative to interact with our commenting neighborhood and study from fellow readers in a moderated discussion board.Limitless on-line entry to the Montreal Gazette and Nationwide Publish, together with the New York Instances Crossword, and 14 extra information websites with one accountSupport native journalists and the subsequent era of journalists.Montreal Gazette ePaper, an digital reproduction of the print version to view on any gadget, the place you possibly can share and remark..

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Xhekaj was fined the utmost US$3,385.42 by the NHL for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty taken towards the Maple Leafs’ Cédric Paré throughout an exhibition sport final month. Xhekaj retaliated following a knee-on-knee hit Paré administered towards Patrik Laine, who’s sidelined between two and three months with a sprained knee.

Xhekaj additionally delivered a devastating hit on Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle in his subsequent sport. Over two contests, Xhekaj obtained 44 penalty minutes and two match misconducts. Whereas he stayed out of the field on Wednesday, the 6-foot-4, 240-pounder appeared ready to combat Ryan Reaves at one level. Reaves was close to the tip of his shift and skated away.

Paired with Justin Barron towards the Leafs, Xhekaj was on the ice for 13:50, had one shot, successful and blocked a shot.

“It was positively a really eventful pre-season,” Xhekaj quipped. “My plan entering into wasn’t to get all rowdy like that. It simply occurred. The sport was asking me to do issues in sure conditions. I used to be there.”

Signed by the Canadiens in October 2021 as an undrafted free agent, Xhekaj has undergone two shoulder surgical procedures and is coming off an inconsistent season throughout which he was loaned to the Laval Rocket — Montreal’s AHL affiliate — final December. He scored three targets and 11 factors in 17 video games whereas taking 34 penalty minutes earlier than returning to the Canadiens in January.

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After he recorded three targets and 10 factors in 44 video games final season, together with 81 penalty minutes, Montreal signed him to a two-year, US$2.6-million contract in July. And whereas it was just for 37 seconds towards Toronto, Xhekaj is anticipated to obtain some penalty-killing time this season. The 23-year-old is searching for extra consistency from his sport.

“I need to be a constant defender each evening and assist my group win video games,” he stated.

Whereas it’s just one sport — the Canadiens are in Boston Thursday evening and determine to have one other robust problem — Xhekaj stays optimistic the group has turned the nook in its rebuild due to how tight the group is, each on and off the ice.

“We’re such a detailed group,” he stated. “Everybody needs to work for one another. It’s a particular group.

“There’s no group that scares us within the league,” Xhekaj added. “There’s clearly groups which have a great model and play the correct method, however I don’t assume we’re petrified of any group. We are able to go toe-to-toe with anybody, I believe, once we play our greatest sport towards their finest sport. We clearly consider in ourselves and know what we need to do.”

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One other Canadiens participant searching for extra consistency is ahead Josh Anderson. The 6-foot-3, 226-pound winger scored solely 9 targets and 20 factors in 78 video games after producing 21 targets the earlier season.

“I needed, trying again, I’d have caught with it these first 15 video games,” Anderson stated on Tuesday. “Watch these 15 video games over once more and really see how efficient I used to be however wasn’t placing up factors. That would have benefited me. I believe I used to be getting pissed off why they weren’t entering into. This yr, I’m not worrying about that. In case you’re enjoying effectively, keep it up.”

Anderson additionally will kill penalties this season and is appreciative of the belief head coach Martin St. Louis has displayed in him.

“It’s an enormous confidence enhance,” Anderson stated. “Realistically, you must know what sort of participant you might be and what you deliver to this group. Present them you need to compete each evening.”

The Canadiens are scheduled to have the day without work on Friday earlier than internet hosting Ottawa Saturday evening.

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com

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