Arber Xhekaj likes to be referred to as The Sheriff, however don't name him a goon
“I am a participant first and I believe that is why I made this workforce,” the Canadiens defenceman says.
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Arber Xhekaj isn’t loopy about his nickname. In truth, he wouldn’t thoughts altering it.
After becoming a member of the Montreal Canadiens final season, his teammates dubbed the defenceman “Wifi”, riffing on the very fact the spelling of his final identify was harking back to a kind of complicated Wifi passwords you generally come throughout.
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In a dialog at La Chambre Microbrasserie Sportive in Terrebonne Wednesday afternoon, Xhekaj mentioned he’d prefer to revive the nickname he had when he was enjoying with the Kitchener Rangers within the Ontario Hockey League. Again then he was often known as The Sheriff, a nod to his function as a man not afraid to put down the regulation on the ice.
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“It was a nickname I had in junior once I was with Kitchener and it stayed by junior but it surely type of switched up a bit right here once I made it to the NHL,” mentioned Xhekaj. “Nevertheless it’s undoubtedly a nickname I preferred. I believe (Wifi) is nice, the individuals like it. However when individuals are calling me Mr. Wifi and so they don’t know my identify, that’s a bit robust. But when the followers prefer it, I prefer it.”
He was on the La Chambre in Terrebonne to assist launch a promotional marketing campaign for the chain of eating places’ new smash burger named … The Sheriff.
Street to the Cup
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Xhekaj is certainly the CH’s new sheriff, one thing the workforce had been missing in recent times, and he isn’t afraid to drop the gloves, as he confirmed on this season’s first recreation, when he took on Toronto Maple Leafs heavyweight Ryan Reaves.
“We’re two massive boys and we each play onerous and he threw a few massive hits so proper after that I believe I needed to set the tone early and say ‘We’re not simply going to sit down there and allow you to run round like that’,” mentioned Xhekaj. “Clearly it wasn’t a lot of a struggle. I don’t know why there’s a lot speak about it.”
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After the struggle, which was actually extra of a wrestling match, ending with Xhekaj tossing Reaves into the again of the web, Reaves trash-talked the Habs robust man.
“I don’t like getting jumped,” mentioned Reaves. “I don’t know if I’ve actually jumped anyone. If you wish to struggle, simply ask me. I’m all the time round. You already know the place to seek out me.”
When these feedback are talked about to Xhekaj, he politely suggests Reaves isn’t telling the entire reality.
“It’s on video,” mentioned Xhekaj. “You’ll be able to see that he’s throwing the primary punches of the struggle. I didn’t seize him straight away. I let him stand up, flip round and get settled, after which we went from there.”
In his rookie season, Xhekaj rapidly grew to become a fan favorite, partly due to the fights, but in addition resulting from the truth that followers might see that he’s greater than only a pugilist — he’s additionally a reasonably good NHL participant. That season was minimize brief — he solely performed 51 video games — after he suffered a season-ending shoulder damage in a struggle.
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For a few years the Habs typically didn’t have a tricky man prepared to face up for gamers after they received pushed round by the opposition. It occurred greater than as soon as that star goalie Carey Value would get run over with no teammates coming to his rescue.
“For any workforce that’s received a man who’s keen to guard his teammates, it’s big,” Xhekaj mentioned. “It provides them area. It lets them play fearlessly. For me it’s crucial that I can convey that facet to the sport. When guys are going to be taking runs at our guys or doing something silly on the ice, at the back of their thoughts they should know that I’m going to be coming for them.”
He earned 101 penalty minutes in his rookie season however he additionally confirmed that he’s a strong blue-liner who can spark some offense when wanted.
“I’m not a goon, I’m a hockey participant first,” mentioned Xhekaj. “I believe that’s the place individuals get confused. They suppose I’m simply there to struggle guys. I can play the sport and I’ve fairly good offensive upside. I’m a participant first and I believe that’s why I made this workforce.”
His youthful brother Florian was drafted within the fourth spherical by the Canadiens this 12 months and Xhekaj would like to see the 2 of them collectively on the identical workforce.
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“That was wonderful, that was the icing on the highest of the cake,” he mentioned. “If he finally ends up enjoying with me, that may be a dream come true. We’d play on the road day by day and any sport, we’d problem one another one on one.”
Xhekaj, 22, was born and raised in Hamilton, by immigrant dad and mom. His dad is a refugee from Kosovo who arrived in Toronto within the ’90s and ended up working as a welder in Hamilton. His mother is from the Czech Republic. He mentioned it was his dad and mom who instilled in him the drive to succeed, permitting him to face every kind of adversity, together with making it to the NHL despite the fact that he was by no means drafted. The Canadiens invited him to their coaching camp in 2021 and the workforce was impressed sufficient to signal him to a three-year contract price US$2.485 million.
“It undoubtedly comes from my dad and mom,” mentioned Xhekaj. “The got here right here with nothing. My dad got here right here with perhaps two {dollars} in his pocket and began a life and created a household. He’s labored onerous for all the pieces he’s received and so they all the time reminded us the place they got here from and the way their life was again residence, so we knew we had been actually lucky to get what we had.”
Rising up in Hamilton additionally influenced his outlook, he added.
“I really like all the pieces about Hamilton, but it surely’s robust metropolis, you don’t mess with guys from Hamilton,” mentioned Xhekaj.
Whether or not you name him Wifi or The Sheriff, you don’t mess with Arber Xhekaj both.
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