TORONTO — Fans of heavyweight hockey tilts, circle March 9 on your calendar.
Ryan Reaves wants a rematch with Arber Xhekaj.
“Yeah. I don’t like getting jumped,” the Toronto Maple Leafs winger said Friday.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever really jumped anybody. If you want to fight, just ask me. I’m always around. You know where to find me.”
During Wednesday’s 6-5 wild opening-night victory over the Montreal Canadiens, Reaves rammed Kaiden Guhle into the boards on a hard forecheck.
Xhekaj objected to the hit and pounced, grabbing Reaves behind the goal line and starting a skirmish that ended when the 22-year-old Habs defenceman pushed Reaves, 36, into the Montreal net, knocking everything over.
“The guy obviously threw a couple big hits, and I wanted to stick up for my teammates there. Definitely proud of how I carried myself,” Xhekaj told Montreal reporters Thursday.
“If it needs to be done, I’ll be there.”
Xhekaj was given an extra two minutes for instigating, plus a 10-minute misconduct, and 67.6 per cent of HockeyFights.com‘s users ruled in favour of the former Costco employee.
Reaves (six-foot-two, 226 pounds) made it clear that he’d rather square off face-to-face with Xhekaj (six-foot-four, 240 pounds).
“I don’t know if he (pushed me into the net) on purpose to end it or what. I don’t know. Once I kinda stood up and he ended grabbing me, he just kind of tried pushing me for the rest of the way,” Reaves said.
“So, I felt like it was on purpose. But we got (the Canadiens) two more times. I’m sure something might happen. I don’t want to go out like that.”
Xhekaj dropped the gloves nine times last winter in his rookie season and is not backing down from a challenge.
The undrafted NHL sophomore said he and Reaves didn’t exchange words after their fight, which was “more of a wrestling match.” This marked the Montreal player’s first fights since injuring his shoulder, and he was pleased how his throwing arm responded.
And although Reaves didn’t get the better of his challenger, the veteran tough guy still waved his arms in celebration after the tussle. He’s a showman on a mission to inject some “swagger” (coach Sheldon Keefe’s word) into Maple Leafs culture.
“I’ve always done that. I like to bring energy, whether it’s in the locker room, on the bench, into the crowd. That’s kind of my job here. So, a little bit of a sleepy start. Try and get some in the body, get the crowd into a little bit — that’s what I was brought here to do,” Reaves explained.
“I don’t know if it makes a difference or not. But if it gets the crowd up a little bit, sure.”