A loud presence both on and off the ice, Ryan Reaves has taken control of the auxiliary cord in the Maple Leafs' room.
A loud presence both on and off the ice, Ryan Reaves has taken control of the auxiliary cord in the Maple Leafs' room.
Ryan Reaves promised to bring his loud personality to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Now we know he's definitely brought it through the aux cord.
The 6-foot-2 heavyweight has ensured his finger is firmly on the pulse of the music the Maple Leafs listen to in the locker room.
"It's not right when I get to the locker room but once it's time to get ready for the game, it's all me," Reaves said following practice on Friday.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biDQF8mZi8A[/embed]
Reaves made sure the playlist is all hip-hop music but admitted there was some country music in the mix before his team's season-opening win against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.
"That got gassed pretty quickly," Reaves said of the country addition. "You can't have that."
Newly installed general manager Brad Treliving signed Reaves to a three-year, $4.05 million contract on July 1. The enforcer promised to bring some noise to the room and music can play into that.
Reaves logged 8:03 of ice time in a 6-5 win against the Canadiens. His fight with Montreal defenseman Arber Xhekaj seemingly woke up the Scotiabank Arena crowd midway through the opening frame.
"I like to bring energy, whether that's in the locker room on the bench or in the crowd, that's kind of my job here," Reaves said.
Following Wednesday's game, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe identified Reaves' line with Noah Gregor and David Kampf as one of the best lines of the evening.
But what has surprised the coach most about Reaves has been his consistency.
"That part, I wasn't sure of on my end," Keefe said. "I've been really really impressed. This is a true professional who knows his job. He defensively knows his responsibilities. He's gotten it right, pretty much every time."
Reaves was also the reason why Matthew Knies joined Fraser Minten for part of his rookie lap.
"Yeah, he was explaining to me because I hadn't played a regular season home game yet, he was pushing me to go on," Knies said.
Reaves takes exception to Xhekaj fight
Reaves didn't look like he got the better of his fight with Xheaj, but there was good reason. The Canadiens defenseman was issued an additional two-minute minor and 10-minute misconduct for instigating the fight.
"I don’t like getting jumped," Reaves said. "I don’t really know if I’ve ever jumped anybody. If you want to fight, just ask me. I’m always around, you know where to find me."
Reaves had a hand in Leafs' new goal song
The Maple Leafs debuted a Steve Aoki remix of Kid Cudi's 'Pursuit of Happiness' as their new goal song during the opener. Reaves admitted that he was one of the players consulted about the change.
His favourite thing about the new tune?
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HhzIn8I4ak[/embed]
"It's not the old one," he said with a smile.
The Leafs used 'You Make My Dreams' by Hall & Oates for the last five seasons before Wednesday's shift.
"I don't really know Hall & Oates, I just know that's not a goal song."
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