Xhekaj, on the Trouba hit: “I’m going to remember”.

With the score 5-2 in favor of the Rangers last night at the Bell Centre, Jacob Trouba delivered a hard-hitting check to Justin Barron.

The Canadiens’ defenseman was stunned on the play and had to take a few minutes to come to his senses.

Was the check legal? Some say yes, while others say no. But there’s one question that comes up when we talk about Trouba’s hit…

Would Trouba have hit Barron like that if Xhekaj had been in the line-up?

Again, some think yes… and others think no.

We ran a poll this morning on our Twitter account and the majority of responses lean towards “yes”:

VERY simple poll question:

If Arber Xhekaj is in uniform last night, does Jacob Trouba still hit Justin Barron in the head?

– DansLesCoulisses (@DLCoulisses) October 23, 2024

The journalists on hand at today’s training session in Brossard decided to take the bull by the horns and ask Xhekaj directly what he thought of the situation.

And the defender makes no bones about it. If he’d been there, he would have reacted in defense of his teammate.

Xhekaj maintains that he will remember:

“I probably would have reacted if I’d been in uniform. I’ll remember!”

Arber Xhekaj on the Barron / Trouba incident pic.twitter.com/VBSlnyqU2B

– RDS (@RDSca) October 23, 2024

I find it hard to believe that Jacob Trouba wouldn’t have hit Barron if Xhekaj was playing last night.

Why would he do that?

Because that’s been Trouba’s style since the beginning of his career and it’s not going to change.

That said, he’ll probably have to answer the call when Xhekaj wants to fight him, even if yesterday we saw Mike Matheson go to Barron’s defense by throwing down the gloves with the Blue Shirts ‘ captain.

It’s part of the famous code, after all…

The next match between the two clubs will be one to watch. On November 30, the Canadiens will visit Madison Square Garden to take on the Rangers… And a little birdie tells me that Arber Xhekaj will be in the line-up if he’s not injured by then.

Sounds promising.

Overtime

– Today’s activities in the waivers.

Conor Sheary (TB) on waivers

– Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 23, 2024

– Of note:

The #QMJHL 2025 draft will take place at the Centre Vidéotron in Quebec City on June 6 and 7. The league has just confirmed this at a press conference in Quebec City.

– Stephane Leroux (@StephRDSJunior) October 23, 2024

– Still.

While I was at Stade Saputo last night – and 21,203 people were at the Bell Centre – nearly 500,000 people (average per minute) were watching the @CanadiensMTL game on @RDSca.

Reminder: the Habs lost 7-2 and were never in the game. #OnAimeSeFaireMal

– Maxime Truman (@MaximeTruman) October 23, 2024

– It’s going to unlock at some point.

Oilers had 15 inner a lot shots last night and Freddie Anderson stopped 14 of them. Eventually Oilers will start scoring, especially when they create that many chances, but right now the struggle is real as they sit 31st in GF/GP at 2.00.

– Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) October 23, 2024