MONTREAL — November 22 was a night packed with emotion for the Xhekaj family.
There was nervous energy — Florian admitted before stepping onto NHL ice for the very first time.
There was overwhelming pride — Arber felt every bit of it watching his younger brother take those first strides in the League.
There was fear — visible in Simona’s eyes as she watched her son drop the gloves in his debut, something every hockey mom dreads.
And there was pure adrenaline — radiating off their father, Jack, who couldn’t hide his excitement for exactly that moment.
But for Mom and Dad, the news of Florian’s debut started with something else entirely: concern.
“Florian called me around 1 o’clock. My phone started ringing, but he usually naps at that time. So, I picked up the phone, and I was very nervous,” Simona explained. “I asked, ‘What’s happening? Why aren’t you napping?’ And then he told me.”
Jack had the same reaction. He was on his way to a funeral when Florian’s call came through.
“I said, ‘This is unusual. He never calls me at this time,” he recalled. “He said, ‘Can we talk?’ I told him we can’t because there were other people in the car.” After the funeral, Florian called back. “Dad, I got called up.”
“I got the chills,” his father said.
For Arber, the news came in more straightforward fashion.
“I went to ask our team services director for something, and he told me my brother was coming up,” the Habs defenseman said. “I texted Flo and told him, ‘It’s time.’ I came home, gave him a hug and just said, ‘Let’s go.’ We didn’t share many words, but we were both pumped.”
Above all else that night, though, there was gratitude — the kind that only comes from knowing just how improbable this day truly was.
The Xhekajs were never “supposed” to make it to the NHL. Arber: undrafted. Florian: undrafted in the OHL. Two long-shot stories whose paths somehow converged under the same crest.
