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Tom Sestito was a 20-year-old rookie when he came to the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2008 with a pile of penalty minutes logged from several seasons in juniors and a year in the AHL.

Sestito already had plenty of experience with the gloves off before he reached the NHL, but he still had one more big lesson to learn.

And in Columbus, Sestito had the best person to teach it in veteran enforcer Jody Shelley.

“His big thing was you have to respect the other guy you’re fighting,” Sestito said of Shelley. “If you knock someone out, you’ll never see me pumping up the crowd or doing a celebration. You’re not respecting your opponent and you’re not respecting the game.”

Sestito’s respect for the game is one reason why he’s still playing it.

The 28-year-old tough guy has lasted in an era where fighting, and the players willing to do it, has declined.

Another reason for Sestito’s perseverance is he fits the mold of today’s enforcer – a player who can fight and play the game. His numbers back it up.

In 137 NHL games, Sestito has a respectable 10 goals and 18 points, not to mention 432 penalty minutes. At the AHL level, he’s logged two seasons with 10 goals or more and has tallied 49 goals and 116 points since 2007. With Springfield in 2010-11, Sestito produced at nearly a point-per-game, logging 32 points in 46 games.

The combination of being able to chip in on the scoresheet and a willingness to drop the gloves makes Sestito a unique hybrid of a hockey player in today’s game.

“I never thought of myself as just being a goon,” he said. “I get labeled that all the time by people who don’t know me.”

Sestito admits the days of teams having players who just fight are gone, but said it’s an element that still has a place in the game.

Today’s tough guys, he said, are players like Ryan Reaves of the St. Louis Blues who can chip in a goal, throw punishing hits and fight when needed.

“He’s a power forward and I think that’s the way the game is going to go,” Sestito said. “I don’t think you’re ever going to get fighting out of the game. I think it does police the game. I just think you’re going to get the two guys who can’t play, fighting for no reason out of the game.”

Policing the game is the main reason why fighting hasn’t been eliminated, Sestito said, and he’s happy to serve as a deterrent to protect his teammates. In fact, sometimes being a deterrent is more about presence than it is dropping the gloves, he said.

There are some opponents who might see Sestito in the lineup and resist the urge to run one of his teammates. And there are those who simply don’t care, and that’s when Sestito may have to drop the gloves.

“If that happens they may have to pay for it. Who knows?” Sestito said.

There were several occasions this season when the Pittsburgh Penguins could’ve put Sestito’s role as a “deterrent” to the test. Most notable was when Columbus’ Brandon Dubinsky violently cross-checked Sidney Crosby in the back of the neck during a game in late November. Sestito was injured and in Wilkes-Barre at the time, but would the cross-check have happened if he were in Pittsburgh’s lineup that night?

“You’d like to think he’d think twice, but who knows? (Pittsburgh had some guys that can fight up there before and it hasn’t stopped them,” Sestito said. “If (Dubinsky) doesn’t think twice and I happen to be up there and the game gets out of hand, maybe he gets something back for doing that.”

When it comes to dropping the gloves – something Sestito has done countless times in his career, he admits it’s a task he never takes for granted. To fight another player, he said, requires doing something out of the norm.

“I don’t think it’s natural for a human to want to fight somebody else. It’s not a natural thing for a human to do,” Sestito said. “But I’m willing to do whatever I have to for the team to win.”

And that’s why, when Sestito does drop the gloves he reflects back to Shelley’s advice from years ago and simply skates to the box.

No fanfare. No hoopla.

Just a job to be done.

“Anyone can knock anybody out. It just takes one punch,” Sestito said. “Just go to the box, sit down and respect your opponent.”

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Tom Sestito combines a physical presence with the ability to contribute offensively – an aspect that’s needed in today’s game.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_sestito1.jpg.optimal.jpgWilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Tom Sestito combines a physical presence with the ability to contribute offensively – an aspect that’s needed in today’s game. Fred Adams|for Times Leader

While fighting has declined in hockey, Penguins forward Tom Sestito believes it can still serve as a deterrent on the ice.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_sestito2.jpg.optimal.jpgWhile fighting has declined in hockey, Penguins forward Tom Sestito believes it can still serve as a deterrent on the ice. Fred Adams|for Times Leader

By Tom Venesky

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Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky