Leaf notes: Ryan Reaves wary as Matt Rempe show arrives in Toronto

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Among the exclusive club of NHL enforcers, everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout the new kid in town.

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The Matt Rempe show comes to Toronto Saturday night, two points, 32 penalty minutes and three fights in six games for the 6-foot-7 Calgarian, plus one ejection for an illegal check to the head. He’s either beating someone up, or getting beat up, all the while eating up the publicity that goes with turn-the-clock back Slap Shot antics.

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“You see all the highlights, he’s coming in trying to make a name for himself any way he can,” noted 36-year-old Leafs bodyguard Ryan Reaves. “That’s how I came in. I wasn’t called up to add scoring touch, it was to be physical, stick up for teammates and draw some energy. Good on him, he’s got some attention. Let’s see how long it lasts.”

Reaves had his own crowd-pleasing bout Thursday, ending up on top of Arizona’s Liam O’Brien after the Coyotes were belting a couple of his teammates. Reaves, who flexed his bicep in celebration en route to the penalty box, was asked about a possible run-in with the 21-year-old Rempe with the backdrop of a Hockey Night in Canada telecast.

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“I don’t have the game script, but you never know,” was the mischievous reply.

Reaves did say Rempe’s reach would be a challenge, but nothing he hasn’t encountered before. He was certainly ready when O’Brien stalked him.

“I like to fight calm. Some guys like to amp themselves up, but those are my worst fights when I want to kill somebody. You have to be calm and see the fight. But I don’t go into any game thinking ‘I’m fighting for sure tomorrow.’

“Sleeping after a fight is the worst. The adrenalin, not so much the pain. (Fighting) can be gruelling, especially if you haven’t done it very often, then three back-to-back-to-back. It takes its toll.”

DAMAGE CONTROL

For Leafs banged up the traditional way — by heavy checks, shot blocks and the like — their ranks are still a bit thin.

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Defencemen Timothy Liljegren and Conor Timmins have not rejoined the main practice group, though newcomer Ilya Lyubushkin is expected to move right into Saturday’s lineup. Head coach Sheldon Keefe would not rule out Liljegren returning from his undisclosed injury.

Winger Calle Jarnkrok practiced part of Friday on the third line with John Tavares, just about ready to return from breaking a knuckle early last month, which could see Nick Robertson bumped from that unit with Bobby McMann.

“They’ve played well in the minutes (Jarnkrok) left, but you do miss him,” Keefe said. “He does provide a lot for our group with his versality, special teams, 5-on-5, he moves up the lineup. When he comes back there’ll be tough decisions.”

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SAMMY SET TO START

Saturday provides the goaltending luxury Keefe hasn’t always had as playoffs approach, able to give Joseph Woll recovery time from a 30-save win in his long-awaited return from injury and start Ilya Samsonov, winner of six of his past seven games.

“We have three to manage (with capable veteran Martin Jones), but in my mind there’s two I have to make a decision on,” Keefe said of each game. “Joseph was a great sign, now it’s important we manage him without over-doing it for a guy who hasn’t played in (three months).

“(Samsonov) was our plan even before Thursday, the right thing to do for him and Joseph.”

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LOOSE LEAFS

It will be interesting when McMann and Lyubushkin meet Saturday. Their last exchange involved fists in Anaheim when Lyubushkin thought McMann ran teammate Pavel Mintyukov … Whether based on analytics or the eye test, general manager Brad Treliving says Lyubushkin fills a huge need. “Looking at our data, one of the things was (his) ability to kill plays, a strong denier at the blueline. And he’s got some heaviness” … Treliving says it’s an ongoing challenge for assistant GM Brandon Pridham to keep the Leafs under the salary cap, even with LTIR recovery from the season ending injury to players such as John Klingberg. “It’s easy to say Klingberg’s money ($4.15 million US) went away. But we were running a thinner roster then versus more players (now). (Brandon’s) typing away. He’s running out of fingers and working on the toes” … Keefe on reaching 200 career wins Thursday: “A credit to the great fortune I have to coach a good team. It’s funny, anytime I see these kinds of (milestones) I think we should win every game. You show me 200 wins, I’d look at the losses, the overtime (defeats). Those things drive me crazy.” His .613 winning percentage is the highest of any coach on the list of 86 men ahead of him on the NHL list.

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