Although Myers fought earlier in pre-season, he's never gone toe-to-toe with an opponent in an NHL regular season game.
Although Myers fought earlier in pre-season, he's never gone toe-to-toe with an opponent in an NHL regular season game.
When Maple Leafs practice wrapped up on Monday morning, a few players continued skating in drills, while others fired pucks on net.
But not Ryan Reaves and Philippe Myers.
Those two were at center ice, grabbing each other's practice jerseys, with Reaves describing to Myers what to do if he were to drop the gloves again. Several players enjoyed seeing the two practice, including Auston Matthews and Max Domi, who smiled as he watched.
This comes after the defenseman dropped the gloves with Montreal Canadiens' forward Josh Anderson on Sept. 29. Myers had never fought in the NHL before this fight, but he has squared off seven times in the AHL, and twice in junior.
"Just a couple of pointers. Like, when I fought Anderson there, we were squaring off. I've never squared off in my life before that," Myers said on Monday after practice, describing what he was doing with Reaves.
"So it was like, not that I didn't know what to do. But I was just asking him for a couple of pointers."
The 27-year-old defenseman is getting suggestions from one of the toughest heavyweights in the NHL. Reaves fought seven times last season with Toronto and dropped the gloves once in the pre-season, fighting Ottawa Senators' Donovan Sebrango.
Although fighting might be on the way out of hockey, it's still important to have someone like Reaves, who can help in other ways when point production isn't his strongest suit.
"I think he's tall, he's strong, he's got some good length on him. I think every fighter has to use what they have and understand what they don't have. He said he hasn't been in many fights, and I think that's the first time he's ever squared up," Reaves said after the lesson.
"So just him being comfortable squaring up with somebody and things to avoid things, like turning your head. You don't want to do that in a fight because you can't see what's coming at you. So, you know, just the basic pointers. I'm sure we'll work on it a little bit more throughout the season. An introduction course."
Myers signed a one-year, $775,000 contract with the Maple Leafs on July 3. The defenseman has played 158 NHL games, scoring eight goals and 28 assists, split between the Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators, and Tampa Bay Lightning.
It appears that Myers has impressed Toronto's coaching staff enough to stick around entering the regular season. Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube highlighted his camp as competitive.
"I think competitiveness is number one for sure in effort. I mean, this guy competed hard in camp, in the games, in training camp and practices. Big guy, takes the body, he's got a good stick and, blocking shots, penalty killing, things like that. So, he impressed us."
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