Former Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves came under fire last season for his lack of fights, and he doesn't seem to be backing off why that's the case.
Ryan Reaves is someone who has gone viral quite a bit over the last couple of weeks in the aftermath of his trade to the San Jose Sharks.
Ryan Reaves reveals why he wasn't fighting as much this season
At one point, Nick Alberga asked Reaves why he only fought once this season. This was a career low for the enforcer, and many fans were disappointed.
Reaves was quick with his response, claiming it's the Leafs' fault. He says they kept putting him in the lineup when there was no one on the other team for him to fight.
A lot of it was circumstance. I've gone over this a few times. Early in the season, we played New Jersey. Second game of the year, I got scratched right away. Then we played Columbus-Olivier had a broken hand. We played Philly twice-Deslauriers was hurt for both. I think I was scratched for one of those games, too. Then we played New Jersey again. I played, McDermott didn't. Then I played, McDermott didn't. McDermott played, I didn't.
The enforcer also says that heavyweight guys like him just don't exist anymore, so he barely has any fighting partners.
There just aren't a lot of heavies out there who are going to fight me, right? So if I'm missing games like that, that's six or seven chances against guys who would've gone. It was just the circumstance I was dealt this year.
At this point, it is hard to give Ryan Reaves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to anything.
He is someone who has become hard to root for, and if you are a Leafs fan, you can't help but be at least a little happy he is going somewhere else.