Arber Xhekaj makes entertaining appearance on Spittin' Chiclets

The Spittin' Chiclets crew picked a good time to drop the Arber Xhekaj interview, as the Canadiens are at the top of the hockey news cycle with their recent Patrik Laine acquisition. The interview happened before the trade, so there is nothing about Laine. However, Xhekaj dropped a couple of interesting quotes about his brother, Florian Xhekaj, his journey from Costco to the NHL, and his place amongst the other fighters in the league with Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney.

Warning: If you've watched/listened to the podcast before this is no surprise, but viewer discretion is advised due to language and mature content.

One of the most interesting tidbits for Habs fans will be his comments about training with his brother this offseason. Florian looked like one of the best players at development camp, which included a great scrimmage to end the week. Florian may be a player to watch in the future depending on how he performs with Laval this season.

“I’m over in Hamilton. Me and my brother we train in Burlington together. He’s a beast too man, he’s gonna surprise a lot of people. I mean he had to fight me growing up his whole life so it’ll be interesting to see what he does man.”

Xhekaj also told a hilarious story about fighting Zack Kassian. The story is a perfect representation of why Canadiens fans love Xhekaj and hope he can get over his injury issues to be the Canadiens' enforcer for many years.

“We’re lined up vs Zack Kassian. I’m just looking at him smiling & laughing. He’s like ‘What the f*** are you looking at?!’ He told Wideman ‘I’m gonna beat the s*** outta this kid.’ Wides said: ‘He can hold his own, it’s not gonna go how you think it’s gonna go.”

Finally, Xhekaj told the long-running story about his time as a Costco employee before signing with the Canadiens. We're glad you didn't come to reality, Arber!

“I’m showing up 5-10 mins late but I told them I’m chasing a dream here. I got pulled in by a manager, she said ‘You gotta come to reality at some point and pick whether it’s Costco or hockey.’”