Luke Schenn doesn't sleep. He waits.

I haven't always been the biggest Luke Schenn fan. I'm still not sold on his skating, and he holds onto the puck longer than I'd like. That said, he seems to truly work at his craft; there has been obvious improvement thus far in the preseason. He will never be as smooth with the puck as Tomas Kaberle. Schenn knows this, like the rest of us do. But Schenn does have one great advantage: he's stronger than Atlas. And he has been using this strength to hold off forecheckers and buy himself time with the puck. He's not perfect (yet), but he doesn't frighten me as much when he's pressured. Conversely, one thing Schenn has always done is stick up for himself. Justin Abdelkader gave Schenn a borderline hipcheck in the third period last night. Schenn immediately tracked down the culprit down and the two squared off. That act spoke louder than words to me. Luke Schenn may never be the greatest defenseman, but he's not going to let someone take shots at him without repercussions. I bet last night was the first and last time Justin Abdelkader hits Luke Schenn low. I just wish more NHLers would stand up for themselves as opposed to having a teammate jump the aggressor.

Links after the jump.

Sunday links:

A Reason to Watch the Marlies

Five Minutes for Fighting is very excited about seeing Nazem Kadri in the AHL.

Colby Armstrong 2010-2011 Season Preview

Leafs Nation Online continues the series with the Leafs new #9.

Cammalleri's slash, Boogaard's spear could bring suspensions

Wysh's take on two incredibly dirty plays that occurred last night.

Best Goaltenders in the NHL

Derek Zona of Copper & Blue looks at post-lockout numbers for the league's top goaltenders.

Leafs Picture Comics #6 - Tomas Kaberle

More updates from Marc Pilgrim