Toronto Maple Leafs: Don’t Blame Nazem Kadri

In Saturday’s game against the Boston Bruins, Nazem Kadri cross checked Jake DeBrusk in the face.

The Toronto Maple Leafs centre faces a suspension and has been offered an  in-person meeting with the NHL for his actions.

Kadri, you may remember, was suspended for three games in last year’s playoffs for a dirty hit on then Bruins winger Tommy Wingels.

This makes him a repeat offender.

Suspension a Near Certainty

Kadri is almost certain to be suspended. By offering him an in-person hearing, the NHL Player Safety Dept. has the right to suspend Kadri for more than five games.

Such a hefty suspension would be ridiculous.

Kadri deserves – at most – a single game.  Even that is probably excessive given the NHL’s complete lack of consistency when it comes to penalties, let alone suspensions.

The Kadri hit came after several terrible non-calls.  DeBrusk nailed Marleau in the play that lead to the Kadri cross check.  Before that, Kadri was penalized when another player punched him in the face, and DeBrusk went unpenalized for kneeing – a play which, if called, would have had him out of the game in the second period.

None of this excuses Kadri’s actions, but it does mitigate them somewhat.  I think he should be suspended, and I don’t think game circumstances can really play into his punishment, but as far as the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans go, I think Kadri should avoid harsh judgement.

There have already been editorials and comments alluding to his immaturity, his ability to hand big games and control himself.

It’s all crap.

Athletes like Kadri are trained to play on the edge, and the game encourages a culture of retribution and violence. If Kadri – or other repeat offenders – occasionally step outside the bounds of the rules, it is the cost of doing business in the culture of the NHL.

This has nothing to do with whether Kadri has “learned his lesson,” and everything to do with the fact that there is no lesson to be learned.

To be successful, Kadri has to play a certain way.  He’s not the first or the last to lose his temper and get his stick into the face of an opponent.  Of course he probably instantly regretted his actions, but if you think someone can play on the edge required or players like him, and then suddenly find himself in a zen-like trance in the zone of tranquility, then think again.

The game requires you to play with high emotion, and to think that someone can play that way, and then suddenly, when things get a bit crazy, exhibit the emotional control necessary to turn the other cheek is ridiculous.

So don’t villainize Kadri.  Don’t patronize fans of the game with garbage about how he needs to control himself when you personally require that he play in such a fashion, in such an environment, to make that impossible.

You might say that he should “know better,”  but I say that he does.  But you can’t legislate the emotion out of the game of hockey, and so it falls on the in game officials to keep that game under control.

If the refs do their job last night, then none of this happens.

Kadri should be suspended, and do his time.  But spare me the hypocritical holier-than-though sermons about how he’s got to control himself.