CANADIENS’ DIMINUTIVE GALLAGHER STANDS TALL IN LEADERSHIP ROLE

Feisty 5-foot-9, 181-pound forward hates to lose — something he got from his mom

A good leader should never ask people under them to do what he or she wouldn’t do themselves.

That’s part of what makes the Canadiens’ Brendan Gallagher a very good leader.

The Edmonton-born Gallagher is only 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds, but he’s never afraid to go to the dirty areas of the ice to battle for the puck or score a goal. He gives 100 per cent effort every shift and he won’t back down from anyone — not even 6-foot-6, 223-pound Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman, who Gallagher dropped the gloves with during a game last month at the Bell Centre for a David vs. Goliath fight. It was the seventh fight of Gallagher’s NHL career.

“You don’t really think … it’s just something that happened,” Gallagher said after the Canadiens’ morning skate on Tuesday in New Jersey when asked about that fight. “He was upset about something that happened before and it just kind of happened. It’s part of the game. We talked about it in the penalty box and there’s a lot of respect there.”

What did Hedman say?

“He thought I cheap-shotted him with the helmet and then he watched it (on the video scoreboard) and he said sorry for freaking out and I said sorry for trying to fight him,” Gallagher said with a smile.

“I’m kind of happy the way it ended up (with no real punches landed), I think it ended up pretty good for me.”

This has been a pretty good season for Gallagher, but not the Canadiens. After Tuesday night’s loss against the Devils, Gallagher leads the Canadiens in scoring with 24-17-41 totals.

His 24 goals have matched his career high, while he is six points shy, with 16 games left to play, of matching his highest point total. However, Gallagher says he enjoyed coming to the rink more last season when he had 10-19-29 totals but the Canadiens were a better team and made the playoffs.

Gallagher hates to lose, something he said he gets from his mother.

“My mom, when you get to know her, you really realize how competitive she is and how badly she hates to lose,” he said. “We always laugh every time we go home at Christmas and we play stupid games, like Outburst, and my mom is usually the one who ends up screaming at us. It’s pretty funny to see her competitive side. She played a lot of sports growing up. She was a pretty good ballplayer and the competitive side is something that I got from her.”

As for leadership qualities, Gallagher said he started learning those as a 16-year-old playing junior for the Vancouver Giants.

“Jon Blum was my first captain when I was in junior and then Lance Bouma and Craig Cunningham,” Gallagher recalled.

“They were just people you looked at how they led, and as a 16- or 17-year-old kid, you just try and learn from them.

“You see how they act, go about their business, lead by example. And then, when it’s time to speak, they speak.

“I think everyone’s a little bit different in their style and I think you have to be unique toward your own style, but learn from others, as well.”

Gallagher learned very well and is now the true leader of the Canadiens with captain Max Pacioretty out four to six weeks with a knee injury, assistant captain Shea Weber done for the season with a foot injury that requires surgery, Tomas Plekanec — who also wore an “A” on his sweater — traded to Toronto and goalie Carey Price sidelined indefinitely with a concussion.

“I’m still going to do the same things I’ve always done, but I think leadership is something you really shouldn’t have to think about,” Gallagher said, adding he’s not feeling any added pressure.

“There are a lot of guys in our locker-room capable of stepping up and taking on that role a little bit.

“But for us, as a group right now, I think it’s really important to just take care of yourselves, be accountable toward one another, and then we’ll start to get results.”

“Leadership to me is just getting people to follow you, but they’ve got to be following you in the right direction,” Gallagher said.

“So, first of all, you have to be doing the right things all the time and earn the respect of your teammates, so they want to do it. There are a lot of guys capable of doing that in our locker-room.

“We’re without a lot of our main leaders right now, but I think other guys are capable of stepping up.”

Nobody has stepped up more than Gallagher — all 5-foot-9 of him.