Join Us in Celebrating Another “Arber Day”

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but Arber “WiFi” Xhekaj got into yet another fight over the weekend. This type of goonery does our hearts good, and his time he tangled with former Canadien (and tough hombre in his own right) Nicolas Deslauriers of the Philadelphia Flyers. Incidentally this is WiFi’s 3rd scrap of the year and Deslauriers’ 6th. Deslauriers now moves into the lead for fighting majors in the 2022-2023 NHL season.

The fight itself wasn’t very memorable. WiFi lays a nice hard hit on a Flyers forward. Deslauriers took exception, and a tussle ensued. Some right hands are exchanged with a particularly hard thud to WiFi’s face at the end of the tilt. Again, not much of a scrap and I score it a win for Deslauriers. It’s the first time I have seen Xhekaj lose one. What struck me, and continues to, is the old school way in which Arber Xhekaj is staying in the league. Since the lengths at which he’s willing to go moving into 2023 is the talk of the town – this doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon.

If you pull up Arber Xhekaj on hockeydb.com, one gets a remarkably consistent line. He spent 4 years in the OHL and was in Kitchener for three and a half of those years. The last 33 games of his Junior career, he was in Hamilton, Ontario (the Pittsburgh of Canada) plying his trade for the Bulldogs. Interestingly enough, he never registered more that six goals to go with eleven assists in a season for either team. WiFi is a big boy. He stands 6’4” tall, weighs 238 lbs, and was never drafted. Nothing overly remarkable there, right?

I think what’s so interesting for me, and why I’m admittedly gushing fanboy style for a Montreal Canadien, is Arber Xhejaj‘s willingness to stay in the NHL. 18 Games in the league, he’s recorded two goals and three assists to go with 45 PIMs. His enthusiasm in dropping the gloves (with anyone) is a throwback to the days when guys knew that often the only way to stay in the show was to drop the mitts from time to time. Good on Deslauriers for giving the kid a shot as well. He’s a seasoned vet at his trade and really didn’t have to fight when he did, but did so anyway.

So far, this season has had a very nostalgic feel overall. In Boston, you’ve got a classic AHL/NHL tweener in AJ Greer. He has shown his willingness to not make the trip down 95 right from the start of camp. While I am bemoaning the lack of fights and fighters in the NHL, there seems to be a good scrap from somewhere nearly every night. Is it the one a game from the old days? Absolutely not. The game just isn’t played that way anymore.

But, if you look closely, there are still a few guys out there willing to do whatever they can to stay in the show. And thank goodness for that, because otherwise we wouldn’t have much to write about.