Pre-season is irrelevant, they were or he was showing the league that if you screw with their team he will come after you & he is one of if not the toughest & best fighters in the NHL. Whether people care to believe it or not their is intimidation in hockey when a guy that big & that good fighter makes these threats there are not many who will stand up to him & will avoid to anything that could attract his anger. We need Chara.
The refs stopped that from happening as they often do, I don't think he would have any trouble dropping the gloves with Brady, he has fought lots of NHL tough guys. It's not in Ottawa's interest to lose Brady fighting a guy like that especially in preseason which is why Ott needs someone else to do that which IMO they still lack. That is suppose to be MacEwan's job, but he has proven he's not that good at it & he would likely take a beating fighting Xhekaj.
I get what you’re saying, but most guys on our team aren’t intimidated by him at all.
Even pinto was fine making a big hit with seconds to go, with Xhekaj just feet away, because it’s just not intimidating.
Same thing goes with Reeves. You never have to fight him, so he’s not a factor. What is a factor are big bruising hits to hurt, and he can do that sometimes.
I agree that he wasn’t afraid of Brady, but he also knew that he was vulnerable and Brady was pissed and in a mood to hurt him, so covering up made sense.
The biggest thing is that he has to be able to play a real shift, and be a hitting threat, not a threat to take a 5 and a game.
I would love a guy like Neil, like we all would, but I’m happy with a guy like Ostapchuk who will fight anyone, and Kleven who has recently shown he’s step up. Throw Brady in the mix who will fight when it suits him no matter what we want, and I think we have heavy fighting covered.
What we need are guys who love to hit, and mix it up, who will go when things get hot with other mid guys. Fisher and Smith types that are fine to match up, or back up hits.
I don’t think we’re as soft as some think we are, but I think we played a bit like that last year (may come with a lack of confidence). This year Perron, Cousins, and Grieg, are going to make sure that the rest of the boys have to engage.
. Guess Noodles didn't hear the interview after the trade where Ullmark said he wanted to be a starter. And Sens need a true starter for a change. So looking forward to this season with him in net.
