Agitators wanted in NHL
Nazem Kadri is looking for a reaction. The shift-disturbing forward wants to get slashed, tripped or hooked. He wants you to take a stupid penalty and then make you pay for it.
He once got Jamie Benn so angry that the Dallas Stars captain speared him in the groin off a faceoff. Of the four times that Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman has fought in his career, once was because of something Kadri had done when no one was watching.
In an episode of 24/7, Sidney Crosby called Kadri a “(expletive) dummy” who likes to dish it out but “then acts like he got shot” when someone gets him back. Even Leafs defenceman Roman Polak admitted his teammate is “a dirty little guy.”
To another player, these might sound like insults. But for Kadri, who once again is among the league leaders in drawing penalties, they are the kind of sentiments that make him smile. After all, it means he is doing his job.
“It seems like every year we’re talking about this,” Kadri said of playing the agitator role. “I’m just subconscious to the whole idea. I like to draw penalties, I like to play on the power play, so do a lot of other guys. When I’m out there, I just try to move my feet and have that elusiveness and not be so predictable. Hopefully I draw a couple of penalties in doing that.”
It seems Calgary Flames president Brian Burke was right: the rats have taken over. Where you once could not find a team without an enforcer, it is now nearly impossible to find a team without a penalty-drawing agitator. But players like Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher and Boston’s Brad Marchand have nothing to do with a decline in fighting.
Instead, blame the power play. In a league where even-strength goals are more difficult to come by, greater emphasis has been placed on special teams. The more power plays a team has, the more opportunities there are to score and win games.
That is where Kadri (three power play points), Gallagher (four power play goals) and Marchand (three power play goals) come in. They are not just trying to get under the skin of an opponent. They are also trying to land on the scoresheet on the ensuing power play.
“Special teams are more important than ever,” Stars GM Jim Nill told TSN.ca. “You look at the teams that win every night; they’re scoring two power play goals, or (not giving up) goals against penalty killing. It’s so hard to score now, special teams are going to be the next thing. It’s the only chance you really have to score.”
According to behindthenet.ca, Kadri ranks second among NHLers who have played in 10 or more games with 2.8 drawn penalties per 60 minutes.
Kadri draws most of his penalties because opponents cannot get the puck from him. He is slippery. He skates with speed, catches defenders flat-footed and forces them to stop him by any means necessary. It is a skill that has made smaller, skilled players like Edmonton’s Anton Lander (3.3 drawn penalties per 60 minutes), Nashville’s Ryan Ellis (2.1) and St. Louis’ Robby Fabbri (2.0) extremely valuable.
“You just skate,” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock. “You skate, you work and you have the puck. If you skate, you work and have the puck and keep your feet moving — most guys when they get touched their feet stop working — you’re going to draw penalties.”
Marchand goes about his craft a little more nefariously. But the results are similar. One player heads off to the penalty box and the other is on the power play.
“I think it’s part of the game,” Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron said of Marchand. “I think he’s always been one of those guys that agitates and draws penalties and finds ways to be involved in the game and gets under guys’ skin. I think his skill is something that’s been underrated. He’s definitely one of those guys that can hurt you with his moves as well.”
In some ways, that is the ultimate pest: someone who not only baits you into taking a foolish penalty, but then skates by with a smile on his face after scoring on the ensuing power play.
“Absolutely, that’s a dagger for sure,” said Kadri. “Before, you had (enforcers) running around and hurting guys. But scoring a power-play goal, that’s the way you’re really going to hurt a team.”