Habs rookie Arber Xhekaj makes bold statement and Don Cherry loves it!

Montreal Canadiens rookie defenseman Arber Xhekaj started out with a bang in the NHL. Literally.

Last week, Xhekaj dropped the gloves with veteran enforcer Zack Kassian of the Arizona Coyotes and the latter couldn’t escape Xhekaj’s quick right hooks and body shots. The fight ended as the young blue liner rag dolled the forward at centre-ice in front of a loud and impressed Bell Centre crowd.

When he had to explain what led to the fight against Kassian, the rookie blue liner revealed what the veteran forward told him: “I was smiling at him on the face-off. He asked me what I was laughing about. I said, ‘You.’ He gave me a shot. I asked him if he wanted one. He said, ‘Sure.’”

Now, Xhekaj is making an even bolder statement when he said: “If anybody wants to challenge me, I’m not going to back down. That’s a big statement from me.”

Eric Engels reported the bold statement indeed from Xhekaj and it was quickly retweeted by the one and only Don Cherry, who we all know loves a good scrap and an intense player.

Xhekaj won’t hesitate to defend his teammates, and that’s a quality needed in Montreal especially with young top stars like Cole Caulfield and captain Nick Suzuki.

The rookie defenseman is aware of the attention he received following the epic fight against Kassian, and it looks like he’s loving it.

“I got a lot of attention for that,” Xhekaj said to the Montreal Gazette. “I just put a bounty on my head for the other guys and kind of put myself on the radar for the other big guys in the league.”

And apparently Xhekaj won’t back down from anyone. Gotta love it!