'When he arrived at the Canadiens' main camp after the 2021 rookie camp, Xhekaj admitted that he was far too impressed by some of the Toronto Maple Leafs' best players (and he really played a bad game), so the next day, he went to see assistant coach Luke Richardson after his very difficult game and asked to play one more game.'
...
'I asked the coaches because I knew they were going to send me home and maybe release me after that because I really played a bad game.
I asked them to play one last game before they released me. I told them I needed one last game to prove to them what I was really capable of. I had nothing to lose by asking them. If they said no, oh well, I would have tried elsewhere, but if they said yes, well, I was going to have one last chance to convince them to sign me.
And they finally gave me one more game, it was my best game, and the rest is history. I ended up signing a contract with the Canadiens.' - Arber Xhekaj
