TORONTO — Frustrated that Ryan Reaves injured him with a high, illegal hit, Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse recently said it was “pretty obvious” the Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer was targeting his head.
Well, Reaves, maintains that was not his intention.
“The only truth that he spoke was, I go out there to inflict pain. That’s a fact, and that’s not going to stop. But I’m going to continue to do it legally. I’m going to keep playing hard, if not harder, now, and keep burying guys,” Reaves said Tuesday, permitted by the Leafs to speak for the first time since the suspension.
“Just took a couple inches too bad of an angle and caught him. Just an unfortunate incident that, if I’m a second later, I can catch body. But, obviously, it’s something you don’t want to see. But it was just a split second too early.”
Reaves, a repeat offender, was kicked out of the game, then suspended without pay for five games.
What did he think of the punishment, which cost him $35,156.25?
“I don’t want to get into that,” Reaves said. “I already told the kids that Christmas is cancelled. I don’t want to get fined again.”
Reaves checked in on Nurse’s health that night and apologized. The fourth-liner maintains that his intent was to hit the Oilers D-man hard but within the rules. He respects that anyone injured has a right to voice their opinion.
“But I think my 900 games and however many thousands of hits I have speaks for itself,” Reaves said. “I play physical every game, and I’ve been doing it for 15 years, and I’ve only had a couple suspensions (due to illegal checks).
“The reason I’ve stuck around so long is, I don’t take suspensions, and I’m not in the box a lot. I try to play within the rules of the game. So, when something like that happens and a hit gets away from you, I don’t want any see anybody laying on the ice with a head injury, obviously.”
Because Reaves’ ban arrived during a light stretch in Toronto’s schedule, his return Wednesday versus the Nashville Predators is two-and-a-half weeks in the making.
“The worst possible day to get suspended with how little we played,” Reaves said. “I’m just excited to get back in the lineup with the boys and bring more energy.”
Reaves still high-fived his teammates before every period and used his forced time off as a mini training camp, putting in skating and hands work with the club’s skills staff.
And while the Leafs asked Reaves not to conduct interviews while suspended, his younger brother, Jordan, hopped on Instagram and typed a response to Nurse: “Keep ya head up around the net…rule #1 when you start hittin…wild.”
“My brother loves the Twitter wars,” Reaves smiled. “Yeah, you don’t want to get into it with him, because he always gets the last word. That’s for sure.”
Grebenkin is in the killing business
Licking his chops on the sidelines, Reaves is amped to link up with new linemate Nikita Grebenkin.
The recalled Russian wild card used to watch the veteran’s fights on YouTube when he was 10 years old.
“He’s played physical. He’s been getting the net. He’s had some chances. So it’s been fun to watch him come up and play his first couple games. I think it’s gonna be a nice tandem,” said Reaves, who is trying to teach the 21-year-old one or two English words a day.
“It’s usually the fun words first. So, I probably can’t talk about it,” Reaves said.
Through five games with limited ice time, Grebenkin is still searching for his first point, but he has no issue sparking scrums, and his fight-to-the-buzzer mentality has endeared him to the fans and the coach alike.
“I play. You play. Don’t stop. Don’t relax. You play NHL, you understand. I kill you. You kill me,” Grebenkin said, with a shrug, in his second language. “It’s business. No problem.”
Berube broke out into a wide grin before a reporter could complete his question on the rookie.
“He doesn’t take any time off, that guy. He’s a hardworking kid. I think he’s got a real good future. I do. I like his grit, his determination that he plays with,” Berube said.
“Now, there’s a lot to learn. He’s a young guy, and hasn’t played a lot of pro over here, obviously. So, he’s learning on the way, learning on the fly. He’s strong. He’s a big guy. Strong with the puck. And, like I said, he’s got to learn the game.”
Pacioretty’s return not entirely within his control
Max Pacioretty had checked off the first of his two games-played bonuses and impressed both with his hard-checking style and secondary offence (six points in 13 games) before pulling up lame on Nov. 9 with a suspected hamstring injury.
The injury-prone 36-year-old participated in his first team practice Tuesday but is ineligible to come off long-term injured reserve until Saturday in Pittsburgh — at the earliest.
He vowed to heal up as quickly as possible to help the team and explained that his injury was a fluke occurrence from getting pushed by a Montreal defenceman while trying to dodge a puck at the same time.
Despite an arduous summer of intense rehab and doctor visits, Pacioretty maintained that this latest setback is not a mental challenge because he’s travelled down this road before.
“I’ve learned that there’s sometimes — you don’t want to ever get injured — a bit of a silver lining. Sometimes you can work on some stuff and get your body feeling right in a time of the year where it normally doesn’t ever feel right,” Pacioretty said.
“I feel really good. So, some of it’s not in my control, but I feel really good.”
No timeline has been set for Pacioretty’s return, and the veteran has appreciated the Leafs’ ability to stack wins despite the rash of injuries up front.
“I just like that we’re doing what it takes to win hockey games. And sometimes that’s cracking down defensively. Sometimes that’s trying to create a little bit more offence. Sometimes that’s special teams. And then sometimes you really need your goalies,” Pacioretty said.
“There’s not one way to win in this league, and the teams that only know how to win one way normally don’t go very far when it when it matters most. So, we won a lot of hockey games as of late, a lot of different ways, and those are what the best teams do.”
McCabe bounces back from scare
Jake McCabe hit the ice for the first time since being felled by a Nick Perbix point shot Saturday in Tampa.
McCabe left the game after the puck missed his helmet and smashed the side of his head. The defenceman was held out of Monday’s win over former team Chicago for precautionary reasons.
“Pretty scary. But they take good care of us here,” McCabe said. “So, move on from it and keep chugging along.”
McCabe’s absence paved way for a rare appearance by journeyman Philippe Myers.
Myers made a costly own-zone giveaway that led to the Blackhawks’ only goal of the contest, but the big righty performed well otherwise and didn’t hesitate to rip pucks.
Berube is considering giving Myers another look Wednesday.
“I give Phil a lot of credit, man,” McCabe said. “And I told him, ‘It’s not easy to sit around.’ And you’re practising, but it’s nothing close to an NHL-calibre game. And he steps right in and fits right in and plays great. Plays heavy. Plays simple.
“It’s not an easy position to be in, when you’re the seventh guy on the depth chart and you go through stretches of not playing. But every time I see him, he’s got a smile on his face, and he’s working hard in the gym, and he’s just a great guy to be around.”
One-Timers: With power-play assistant Marc Savard home sick, Berube pulled aside the top unit for extra reps. The five-forward formation went 0-for-2 Monday and looked sloppy at times…. Max Domi (IR, lower body) was a full participant in practice but declined to speak to reporters. He will not play Wednesday.… Alex Nylander appears to be the odd forward out with Reaves returning.
Maple Leafs projected lineup Wednesday vs. Nashville Predators:
Knies – Matthews – Nylander
Holmberg – Tavares – Marner
Robertson – Minten – Lorentz
Grebenkin – Dewar – Reaves
Rielly – Ekman-Larsson
McCabe – Tanev
Benoit – Myers
Woll
Stolarz
