Stéphane Robidas defends Arber Xhekaj

Dose
Crédit: YouTube / Habs

In practice, everything was going well for Arber Xhekaj. The defender formed a fine pair with Alexandre Carrier and was really in control.

But now, at the start of the season, we can see that some difficulties are coming to the surface for #72. You can see it in his playing time, which is melting like snow in the sun.

If it weren’t for Kaiden Guhle’s injury, he might be defender #7 right now.

Today, Stéphane Robidas showed up in front of the media and answered reporters’ questions. And let’s just say it wasn’t long before the subject of the Sheriff came up.

The defensemen coach, who began by saying that Xhekaj was more than just a big guy who could fight and play physical, praised his defenseman’s qualities on the ice.

What did the coach have to say ?

Robidas likes his play with the puck and his zone exits. Xhekaj is better defensively, he has great reach because of his size and he has a good stick.

The Québécois also likes the presence that #72 is able to bring while on the bench or on the ice.

Even so, the defenseman has trouble sticking to the right outings in terms of playing time. He often gets benched for several minutes in games.

(Credit: ESPN)

This shows that despite some improvements, he still has things to work on. He needs to know what they are – and it wasn’t up to Stéphane Robidas to talk about them publicly in front of the media this lunchtime.

To be continued…

overtime

– Ouch.

– News from the Alouettes.

– Improbable.

– Interesting.

– Jacob Fowler on the bench.

– Nice.