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Florian Xhekaj : “I want to be like Tom Wilson”
Marc-Olivier Cook
Florian Xhekaj : “I want to be like Tom Wilson”
Credit: Florian Xhekaj’s first season as a professional is not going unnoticed. We’ve talked about him several times this season on DLC because the little brother of Arber is perfecting his role with the Rocket. He hits, he’s frustrating, he’s a pest… and on top of that, he scores goals. Anthony Martineau met with him and […]

Florian Xhekaj’s first season as a professional is not going unnoticed.

We’ve talked about him several times this season on DLC because the little brother of Arber is perfecting his role with the Rocket.

He hits, he’s frustrating, he’s a pest… and on top of that, he scores goals.

Anthony Martineau met with him and TVA Sports published an article about the interview.

The article can be found by clicking on the link here.

But in the text, there’s one sentence in particular that caught my attention. It’s this one:

When I was little, my brother came to see me and told me: “you have to find an NHL player to inspire you. A guy you’d like to resemble”. I told him: “OK. I want to be like Tom Wilson!” – Florian Xhekaj

The little brother of Arber models his game around Tom Wilson’s and that’s the type of player he aspires to become eventually.

If he’s able to reach Wilson’s level – who is excellent today – … the habs will have a very good hockey player on their hands.

In fact, Tom Wilson and Florian Xhekaj are two players who share some similar characteristics.

They’re tall (both are 6’4″), they’re able to frustrate their opponents when needed because they enjoy their pest role, they’ve had success in their last year of junior… and they’re capable of scoring goals.

In his last season in the OHL, Wilson scored 23 goals and added 35 assists (58 points) in just 48 games. He also finished the season with 104 penalty minutes.

Xhekaj, on the other hand, collected 65 points (34 goals) in 63 games and also finished his last season in the OHL with 81 penalty minutes.

The difference is that Tom Wilson didn’t need to spend time in the American League before reaching the NHL. He quickly found his role with the Capitals and is now one of the most important players in Washington.

But I have a feeling it won’t be long before Xhekaj is able to do the same. He has the qualities of an NHL player and his more robust side makes him an intriguing player for the upcoming years.

It’s no wonder, after all, that he’s being talked about as a unicorn.

And at the rate he’s progressing… he could – like Wilson – have an important role fairly quickly with the Canadiens.


Overtime

– The SKA won today.

– And Roman Rotenberg had fun in the locker room.

– Oh no.

– Some news in the MLB:

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