Ryan Reaves shares his thoughts on the incident between teammate Cedric Pare and Arber Xhekaj
Arber Xhekaj has been running wild for Montreal in the pre-season, and now Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves has had his say on the situation.
Overall, the 2024 NHL pre-season has dragged on quite a bit, but in the Original Six rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens, things are continuing to heat up. After Cedric Pare injured Patrik Laine in their recent encounter, defenseman Arber Xhekaj took it upon himself to batter Pare in the middle of the ice, and days after the event, Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves opened up on the whole situation.
"Obviously an unfortunate play. I know Pare wasn't trying to do anything malicious. Feel for Laine, trying to reboot his career in a new city, just obviously an unfortunate play," Reaves said.
Since that play, Xhekaj has gone on to take out Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle as an act of revenge, and while Reaves won't be standing up for Stutzle, it's safe to say that No. 75 was certainly paying attention.
In just a few days time, the Canadiens and Maple Leafs will do battle in their regular season opener, and with all of the emotion surrounding the Pare play, Xhekaj's revenge and a potential heavyweight bout between the two, it should be the most watched opening game of the week. Reaves hasn't commented on Xhekaj's play as a whole, but rather the situation with Cedric Pare, so it's unclear where he stands on the style that Montreal's young defenseman plays, but when the two meet, it's safe to say that we will find out how he feels.
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