Plekanec gets a shave, settles in with Leafs
TAMPA, FLA. — One thing’s for sure for Tomas Plekanec: he won’t be sporting any more facial hair, now that he’s a Toronto Maple Leaf.
Plekanec, arriving here last night and taking the morning skate with his new teammates, knows like every other Leaf that when you are a Maple Leaf, you abide by Lou’s Rules.
That would be GM Lou Lamoriello, whose teams and players pay strict adherence to his no facial hair, no long hair, policy.
“It was different when I looked in the mirror this morning,” Plekanec said as he met the media in the Leafs dressing room at the Amalie Arena here.
“But those are the rules. When (I got traded) some of the guys (teammates) told me what its like playing (for) Lou ...,” added Plekanec, who sported a goatee until Monday morning.
Plekanec said he was excited to join the Leafs, having been acquired Sunday in a trade that sent two Marlies prospects and a second-round pick to Montreal.
On his first line drill Monday, Plekanec centred what would be the fourth line, with Leo Komarov and Josh Leivo as wingers.
But Plekanec, a 15-year veteran with the Canadiens, is also a strong faceoff man, and one of the better penalty killers in the National Hockey League. He will definitely fill out those roles, as well, as a Leaf.
“Obviously, he’s a veteran player, he knows how to play, a good faceoff guy, especially on his strong side, and he can play against the best players,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said Monday at the morning skate.
“You want to make yourself the best team you can, so we’re happy to have him. He’s coming (from a rival team, the Habs), it gets the juices going, gets the energy going ... It should be fun.”
Plekanec seemed to fit right in with the rest of the Leafs, and even had a moment of laughs with the media over a long-standing dress code of his own: the 35-year-old began wearing turtlenecks under his game jerseys back in the AHL with Hamilton, and hasn’t given them up since.
He was able to keep his Canadiens turtleneck for now, since it is similar in colour (dark blue) to the Leafs colours.
In the meantime, the Leafs feel they have the roster they want, with Plekanec in the fold now. Lamoriello had until 3 p.m. Monday to deal, but the roster is primed for a playoff push.
“What you do is you hope and push (as a management group), toward the deadline, and in the end, you make decision as a group, and then get on with it,” Babcock said.
You want to make yourself the best team you can, so we’re happy to have him. MIKE BABCOCK Toronto Maple Leafs coach