Breadcrumb Trail Links
Sports NHL Montreal Canadiens Hockey Inside Out Hockey
Florian Xhekaj looking forward to joining his big brother, Arber, at Habs’ training camp after being selected in fourth round of NHL Draft.
Article content
The Canadiens top prospects headed back to Montreal from Buffalo Monday afternoon after beating the Ottawa Senators 2-1 in their third and final game of a rookie tournament.
Riley Kidney and Jan Mysak scored for the Canadiens, who outshot the Senators 35-17. Goalie Jan Spunar made 16 saves in the victory.
Article content
The Canadiens finished the event with a 2-1 record after losing 6-3 to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday and beating the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Saturday.
Advertisement 2
Article content
The Canadiens also finished last year’s rookie tournament in Buffalo with a 2-1 record, beating the Senators 7-2 in the final game. Defenceman Arber Xhekaj really started to make a name for himself in that victory last year over the Senators with some crunching bodychecks and by beating up 6-foot-4, 216-pound Zachary Massicotte in a fight.
The 6-foot-4, 238-pound Xhekaj continued to impress at the main Canadiens’ training camp and ended up making the team despite never being selected at the NHL Draft. Xhekaj posted 5-8-13 totals and 101 penalty minutes in 51 games with the Canadiens before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury that required surgery in a fight with the Edmonton Oilers’ Vincent Desharnais.
Road to the Cup
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
“He played free,” J.F. Houle, the head coach of the AHL’s Laval Rocket, said about Xhekaj’s performance at last year’s rookie tournament. “He didn’t worry about anything. He went out there and played hockey. He made good, hard bodychecks, good, hard passes. Stayed within who he is and he had a good (training) camp last year, which provided him with a spot with the Montreal Canadiens. That’s what the rookie camp’s about. You want to leave a good impression for the managers that are watching and it’s a start. It’s the start of the season and it’s an important part of being a young prospect for the organization.”
Houle ran last year’s rookie camp and was in charge again this year.
The Canadiens will open this year’s main training camp on Wednesday at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard when players report for physical and medical testing. Xhekaj will be there and his younger brother, Florian, is expected to join him. Florian was selected by the Canadiens in the fourth round (101st overall) at this year’s NHL Draft and he took part in this year’s rookie tournament.
Last season, Florian had 13-12-25 totals and 76 penalty minutes in 68 games with the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs.
Advertisement 4
Article content
“I think that was huge for my confidence playing with older guys and some Laval guys,” Florian told reporters in Buffalo after playing in Monday’s game. “A lot of these guys are signed (to pro contracts). Playing with them I thought I did pretty well, so it did a lot for my confidence.”
As for joining his brother at the main training camp, Florian said: “That was always our dream playing with each other growing up, so to be in the same organization it’s super special. So hopefully one day we’ll play with each other.”
The Canadiens recently released a behind-the-scenes video of a scouting meeting ahead of this year’s NHL Draft in Nashville. In the video, Nick Bobrov — the co-director of amateur scouting — describes Florian as a “unicorn” and adds: “To me, I’d personally like to walk away with that guy.”
The Canadiens did that in the fourth round.
When asked about Bobrov’s comment by reporters in Buffalo Monday, Florian said he hadn’t seen the video, but added: ““Unicorn sounds pretty good.”
Florian then added: “I just try to play my game. I think just my playing style … it’s pretty rare to have a guy that can be gritty and also score. I just think my playing style is rare.”
Sort of like his brother’s?
“Yeah,” Floridan said. “Just as a forward.”
scowan@postmedia.com
twitter.com/StuCowan1
Stu Cowan: Canadiens becoming a family affair for the Xhekaj brothers
Stu Cowan: Canadiens’ Arber Xhekaj learned key lessons from his mother
Advertisement 5
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
Join the Conversation