Toronto Maple Leafs: The Good Guy, Nazem Kadri

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 19: Nazem Kadri
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 19: Nazem Kadri

Let’s focus in on one good guy from the Toronto Maple Leafs roster for a moment.

And that Toronto Maple Leafs player would be Nazem Kadri.

This is kind of refreshing, I don’t really talk about Kadri all too much.

So let’s change that because my last article on him was nearly four months ago, whoops.

On Thursday, he held his annual golf fundraising game under the Nazem Kadri Foundation in his hometown of London, Ontario.

Teammates Josh Leivo and Connor Brown were in attendance, as was Los Angeles Kings star defenseman, Drew Doughty.

We’re going to quickly chat about the foundation and then I promise I’ll get to the hockey stuff.

Promise.

Nazem Kadri Foundation

More from Editor In Leaf

A lot of NHL players give back to their community and I have a lot of respect for them doing so.

Kadri’s no exception and the way he gives back is through his charitable foundation that raises money for different causes annually.

Be sure to check out the website, which is linked above.

This year’s focus is on mental health, let’s end the stigma together.

I love it.

"The Nazem Kadri Foundation’s goal is to make a positve change by working in partnership with local Canadian organizations to raise awareness and funding to support causes.The Nazem Kadri Foundation is a proud supporter of local Canadian charities and strives to give back to the community by raising awareness and funding to aid important causes."

That’s their mission, directly from the website, but if you want a quick summary, it’s to give back to the community.

We can all give no matter the circumstances, so let’s make an impact in the lives of everyone around us.

Okay, now I’ll get to hockey stuff.

TSN Interview

For those of you that want to hear Kadri talk about the event, the foundation and the upcoming season, check this TSN interview out here.

If you don’t want to listen to the whole thing, don’t worry, I’m providing the SparkNotes version below for the parts that really matter.

He starts out by talking about the event and what it means to him to see everyone’s support.

And then, bam, the interview goes straight into the upcoming season.

Explosiveness, power and expand are all words that Kadri uses to describe his strides over the offseason.

Music to my ears.

And if you were wondering if he talked about the Leafs offseason moves, he did.

"I think they’re good moves. Obviously, we got a lot of kids in our dressing room and those kids, you know, need some guidance and need true professionals to pave the way and show them how the game and the league works, so I think it’s great signings, they’re going to be instrumental in our dressing room and hopefully take us to that next step."

That’s in regards to Ron Hainsey, Dominic Moore, and Patrick Marleau.

Kadri was also asked about the Brown situation and as vague as it was, the advice given was for the media (me) to lay off him.

Okay, fine.

The rest of the interview was spent talking about enjoying the offseason, which is always a plus.

Next: Marner's Training Regimen

There you have it, a good guy doing good things.