Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff

[Adriatic]

was armia, engstrom, abb and wawa

Figures..

 

[WeThreeKings]

I don't condone hitting people blindside and in the head. If there was some respect for the players in the league that wouldn't happen.

That being said. If Greig wants to f*** around and deliver dirty hits and then cower when he should respond. Then i believe that eye for an eye is the right move.

Xhekaj did what we haven't had the gumption to do for a long time. Hurting the rat doesn't do anything. Show him that if you want to go over the line with my guys? You can be responsible for Stutzle eating out of a straw and hope you can live with that.

Xhekaj sent the message twice and I like how Struble went about it in a different way.

Can't wait until Florian gets in the NHL too. We need some tough psychos to make sure that anyone coming to town to try to be dirty? Can book their time in the infirmary now.

 

[Bobby Holik agent]

That how you gonna get Hutson decapitated.

 

[BergevinBurner]

That how you gonna get Hutson decapitated.

So instead we should play like a bunch of passive pansies and let other teams take runs at our guys night in and night out?

We need more guys like Xhekaj, not less.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

I don't condone hitting people blindside and in the head. If there was some respect for the players in the league that wouldn't happen.

That being said. If Greig wants to f*** around and deliver dirty hits and then cower when he should respond. Then i believe that eye for an eye is the right move.

Xhekaj did what we haven't had the gumption to do for a long time. Hurting the rat doesn't do anything. Show him that if you want to go over the line with my guys? You can be responsible for Stutzle eating out of a straw and hope you can live with that.

Xhekaj sent the message twice and I like how Struble went about it in a different way.

Can't wait until Florian gets in the NHL too. We need some tough psychos to make sure that anyone coming to town to try to be dirty? Can book their time in the infirmary now.

there would be no crazy hits in the nhl if the league would suspend them correctly to begin with and not give them 1 game or a 5$ fine.



I mean they gave 4 games to Mark Scheifele for almost killing Jake Evans for an empty net.

They also target people depending on names , if Mcdavid were to do the same shit as Tom Wilson , he would get less . It's a shitshow.

Also ahlers like Pare and Greig has nothing to do in the NHL anyways except do stupid shit like that

Also let's not forget that this team has been blatantly hit by injuries and dirty hits in the last years and it shows on the bench and coaching staff that we cant catch a break , the players know it. Caufield reaction says it all. A 5th OA down for an entire season. A potential 50 goals scorer that was hyped to GREATLY help our top 6 gone for 3-4 months alteast dissapeared because of stupid preseason games and garbage ahlers and Dach almost got headshotted again tonight. There is a limit someone can take.

Imagine if Suzuki get blatantly headshotted in the middle of the ice and crumble unconscious , the whole f***ing bench would probably beat the guy until 2025.

Violence is never an option but when you see ur friends getting rounded up for years , sometime enough is enough. Id probably do worse than what xhekaj did tbh

 

[Bobby Holik agent]

Hutson gonna get decapitated no matter what, nevermind.
What am i saying.

 

[ReHabs]

What happened to playing the body? Bad hit on Timmy Stu, shame on Xhekaj… he should know better.

 

[Walksss]

What happened to playing the body? Bad hit on Timmy Stu, shame on Xhekaj… he should know better.

He did get the shoulder. It was late but he didn't get the head

https://x.com/i/web/status/1841316416303067190

 

[ReHabs]

He did get the shoulder. It was late but he didn't get the head

https://x.com/i/web/status/1841316416303067190

He should’ve just played the body and not done a fly-by like that. It’s super dangerous and nasty. It’s cowardly actually. The checker gets no impact and the target gets a potential life ruining injury. It’s inappropriate and disrespectful.

Emelin is the model of checking. Hard and to the body. Xhekaj should do that.

 

[Walksss]

He should’ve just played the body and not done a fly-by like that. It’s super dangerous and nasty. It’s cowardly actually. The checker gets no impact and the target gets a potential life ruining injury. It’s inappropriate and disrespectful.

Emelin is the model of checking. Hard and to the body. Xhekaj should do that.

Well I'm gonna have to disagree there. I have no problem with the weak side defenseman coming across to level a puck carrier, in fact I want players to fear coming across the blue line against my team. As long as there isn't any head targeting it should and does happen.

For sure Xhekaj makes sure he come across because it's in retaliation which I don't always love. But in this case they needed to send a message. I completely understand that not everyone condones that.

I do hope that it dies down from here though. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind and all that.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

was armia, engstrom, abb and wawa

All 4 should’ve been benched rest of the game, as much as you need to teach the other team a lesson our players need to learn it’s not ok. Armia is a big enough guy and the rest should be begging to make a statement to stay in the lineup.

 

[The Great Weal]

That how you gonna get Hutson decapitated.

We already had key players getting injured by dirty plays before Xhekaj did something about it so I doubt this changes anything. In fact, it will make them reconsider committing such acts when Xhekaj has no issue doing the same to their key players.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

If nothing preceeded that hit, then I'd 100% agree with everyone hating on Xhekaj, but Greig knows what he did.

If Stutzle doesn't end up drilling himself in the face from the hit, then Xhekaj likely gets 2.

I have no problem with what he did. Hopefully MSL backs him up, as does Hughes/Gorton if asked.

If MSL kind of throws Xhekaj under the bus I hope MSL is fired then.

 

[The Great Weal]

If nothing preceeded that hit, then I'd 100% agree with everyone hating on Xhekaj, but Greig knows what he did.

If Stutzle doesn't end up drilling himself in the face from the hit, then Xhekaj likely gets 2.

I have no problem with what he did. Hopefully MSL backs him up, as does Hughes/Gorton if asked.

If MSL kind of throws Xhekaj under the bus I hope MSL is fired then.

Struble and MSL backed him up in their interviews. Can't wait for Florian to come in. People are now worried that guys like Hutson/Suzuki will be the recipient of a dirty hit yet ignore how Laine/Dach were the recipients of a dirty hit as well.

 

[ReHabs]

Well I'm gonna have to disagree there. I have no problem with the weak side defenseman coming across to level a puck carrier, in fact I want players to fear coming across the blue line against my team. As long as there isn't any head targeting it should and does happen.

For sure Xhekaj makes sure he come across because it's in retaliation which I don't always love. But in this case they needed to send a message. I completely understand that not everyone condones that.

I do hope that it dies down from here though. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind and all that.

He didn't level the puck-carrier, he grazed him in a manner that almost always leads to injuries for the carrier and little impact to the hitter (can't call it the checker because it isn't a check, it is a chicken-wing or shoulder). I *want* him to play the body and level the puck carrier, I want him to retaliate, I want him to punish opponents... I don't want him to play like a dirty pansy.

 

[Le Tricolore]

You better believe he makes other players think twice. He better be rewarded. Can't have it both ways. Feed the dog.

He took a braindead penalty that gave Ottawa three quick goals.

I get that a lot of people like that he cheapshots people for some reason I'll never truly understand but in the short time he's played the last two games, he put the team shorthanded for 12 minutes.

He has a bad temper that hurts the team more often than it helps. He can be a decent player but he needs to calm the f*** down.

 

[nhlfan9191]

We already had key players getting injured by dirty plays before Xhekaj did something about it so I doubt this changes anything. In fact, it will make them reconsider committing such acts when Xhekaj has no issue doing the same to their key players.

This would’ve been great 30 years ago, but if Jackeyes always having to take liberties for our players, he’s going to put a target on his back with the league pretty quick. The league is a lot softer then it used to be.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Struble and MSL backed him up in their interviews. Can't wait for Florian to come in. People are now worried that guys like Hutson/Suzuki will be the recipient of a dirty hit yet ignore how Laine/Dach were the recipients of a dirty hit as well.

That's awesome then and I completely forgot about post-game interviews.

Dummy me

 

[Habsfan18]

He did get the shoulder. It was late but he didn't get the head

https://x.com/i/web/status/1841316416303067190

Interesting angle here for sure. Definitely late. But that's ALL shoulder, ZERO head contact, and as we thought last night it was Stutzle's own stick that bloodied him. Hopefully DOPS sees this angle, but I still have a feeling Arvlber gets a game or two based on "intent" and the fact it was his second straight incident.

Either way, I don't condone the dangerous shit but it sure the f*** is nice that we aren't taking the abuse anymore and we have someone to hold others accountable.

 

[WeThreeKings]

He took a braindead penalty that gave Ottawa three quick goals.

I get that a lot of people like that he cheapshots people for some reason I'll never truly understand but in the short time he's played the last two games, he put the team shorthanded for 12 minutes.

He has a bad temper that hurts the team more often than it helps. He can be a decent player but he needs to calm the f*** down.

Preseason counts for 0 points. Sending a message if you are dirty to us, you're gonna be sending your best players to IR is far more important than winning a preseason game.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

He took a braindead penalty that gave Ottawa three quick goals.

I get that a lot of people like that he cheapshots people for some reason I'll never truly understand but in the short time he's played the last two games, he put the team shorthanded for 12 minutes.

He has a bad temper that hurts the team more often than it helps. He can be a decent player but he needs to calm the f*** down.

It's a pre-season game. If Greig wants to take a cheap shot, then there's nothing wrong with what Xhekaj did.

I'll take that penalty and those goals on the pp in a pre-season game 100 times out of 100.

Regular season, this year, probably the same as this team isn't as good as people seem.

But no, just let players cheap shot players and hope the league is going to do something, which they're clearly not.

Ottawa has a player who wants to do something stupid again they might look down the bench and realize a player on their team might get taken out.

With that said if Xhekaj wants to do that the next time he plays Ottawa, he can expect someone to go after Caufield Suzuki, etc.

Realistically, Xhekaj gets 2 if Stutzle's stick doesn't come up.

 

[Tyson]

Greig caused this by his blindside hit in a truly meaningless game.
I have no issues with what Xhekaj did. Eye for an eye. You blindside one of our best players...stand by.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

What was the old saying with Chara v Pacioretty?

Strong hockey play?

Yeah. I’ll take that route. Strong hockey play.

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

No head shot.

 

[L4br3cqu3]

I prefer we try to retaliate when other teams try to hurt us vs turning the other cheek when other teams try to hurt us.