Ryan Reaves Gives an Excuse for Only Fighting Once Last Season
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The enforcer Ryan Reaves gave an excuse for dropping the gloves only once last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs in an interview on Leafs Morning Take.
Known for his physical play and willingness to fight, Reaves raised eyebrows last season when he engaged in just one fight while playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Speaking with Leafs Morning Take hosts Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill, he broke down the season's frustrating string of missed chances, revealing that he simply didn't get many occasions to drop the gloves:
"Beginning of the season, we played New Jersey (Devils), second game of the season. I got scratched right away. We played Columbus, I think, soon after that. Olivier had a broken hand. We played Philly twice. (Nicolas) Delauriers was hurt for both those games. I believe I was scratched for one of those games. Then we played Jersey again. I played, (Kurtis) MacDermid didn't play. MacDermid played, I didn't play."
That stretch of bad luck snowballed. Reaves pointed out that very few players are even willing to fight him these days, limiting his opportunities even more:
"There's not a lot of heavies that are going to fight me, right? And so, if I'm missing, right there, that's six, seven games of playing against heavies. That's just kind of the circumstance of what I was dealt this year. Definitely not my design, definitely not what I wanted to do. Obviously, my role is to fight, and I would love to have done it a little bit more. Those guys I didn't play against, and also, I was scratched a ton this year. That's just kind of the facts."
Reaves also revealed he had tried to challenge Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj earlier in the year, but was turned down. His role was clearly being marginalized in Toronto, and by season's end, the frustration boiled over.
Reaves confirmed he asked for a trade during his year-end meeting with GM Brad Treliving. That request was honored on July 10, when the Leafs sent him to San Jose in exchange for defenseman Henry Thrun, ending a disappointing chapter for the veteran enforcer.
This is what he'll bring to San Jose:
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