Its unclear how much scouting the Montreal Canadiens did on Arber Xhekaj, but from a young age in the Ontario Hockey League, he was a man amongst boys.
His physically dominant style started in the OHL where he was mean - all over the ice and, especially if anybody challenged him. So, when he arrived in Montreal, only those that followed junior hockey close would have known about him. It didn't take long for him to introduce himself to the league, though; as he made his presence known in his first taste of preseason action and never looked back.
So, when Owen Sound Attack captain Mark Woolley got the best of Xhekaj's teammate in a fight and challenged the Kitchener Rangers bench, Xhekaj wasn't in the lineup. But the next time that the two teams met up, Xhekaj didn't forget Woolley's gesture to. He obliged to be the guy that was next to fight and after sending him to knockout city, he did the Aaron Asham fight celly.
Xhekaj is still that guy, but so much more
Xhekaj has now fought just about every tough guy the NHL has to offer, aside from Matt Rempe and Kurtis MacDermid, I believe. He has more than proven himself as one of the league's premier fighters. But he has also been developing other parts of his game, that should make him a very successful top six, perhaps top four defender soon enough.
While he has been advised by Canadiens management and the coaching staff to be a little wiser with his decision of when to fight, that part of his game won't just go away. But the best part about Xhekaj is that he is still young and has plenty of room to grow his game. It would be wise for the Habs to add more toughness to the lineup, so that he can focus on other parts of his game, though.
But until they do, he will continue coming to the defence of his teammates and making a difference defensively and on the scoresheet. Players like Xhekaj don't grow on trees and thankfully for the Habs, they found him and got him signed. Now, the hope is that the Xhekaj genes run strong with little brother Florian down in Laval also.