TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE?
Will the return of Kadri be the spark needed to ignite a Leafs miracle?
Headstrong. Heedless. A head-hunter, on the rap sheet.
But also a teammate who’s got your back.
That counts for something on the ice and in the room. It counts for a great deal.
And that’s the player who has been eagerly welcomed back by the Maple Leafs amidst the cliché-strewn wreckage of Toronto’s opening playoff round against Boston: backs against the wall, do-or-die, no tomorrow.
Just in the nick of time, if not past it, Nazem Kadri is restored to the lineup, having served his stiff three-game suspension for a brainpan-rattling hit last Thursday on a defenceless and vulnerable Tommy Wingels. Who, it must be noted, did not dress for Game 2, was a healthy scratch for Game 3 and drew in for Thursday’s 3-1 win by the visitors at the Air Canada Centre because of an injury to Patrice Bergeron.
It’s been a lousy week for both players, although the cause-and-effect was clearly down to Kadri. The cascading impact of his absence has been borne by his team.
How much difference Kadri’s banishment made in the series is impossible to quantify. But significant. A 30-goal scorer, two-way centreman, shutdown artist, veteran of past post-season wars with Boston and emotional wellspring for his club. Kadri plays on the edge — that’s the essence of him — and sometimes he nosedives over it, kamikaze style.
For what it’s worth, the 27-year-old has been pained by the ordeal of sitting by as the club has unraveled, a spectator since midway through the third period of Game 1 when, in the opinion of many, he lost his cool, lost his marbles and, in the most extreme analysis, all but preemptively lost the series for Toronto. In a red mist, infuriated by Wingels’ elbow to the head of Mitch Marner, Kadri drilled the Bruin into the mid-boards — charging and game misconduct — in what the league determined was a deliberate intent to injure.
“I’ve been chomping at the bit the last couple of games,” said Kadri after a team meeting on Friday, first time he’s been exposed to the media since the supplemental discipline was announced by George Parros, vice-president of player safety. (On his own felony blotter from nearly a decade in the NHL: 159 fights, 1,127 penalty minutes.) “It’s been hard to watch, knowing that you could be out there trying to help and trying to make an impact. I’m just happy the time has come.”
Still justifying his actions, if accepting of the punishment and, really, what choice does he have? But not tugging at his forelock. “I wasn’t expecting that, that’s for sure,” said Kadri of the threegame sit-out. “That particular play, I just felt like a liberty had been taken on Mitch.
“I’m always going to stand up for my teammates and stand up for myself. That part’s not going to change about me. Was it worthy of a suspension? I definitely think so. But three games is definitely a little harsh.”
Well, three games for a repeat offender — suspended for dangerous hits in 2013 and 2015, his most recent run-in with the league disciplinarians in April 2016, a retaliatory cross-check to the face of Detroit’s Luke Glendening. Beyond the 18-month probationary period under which the league operates as an included offence affecting disposition. It should not have contributed to a more muscular penance. But likely did.
“I have been through that before and have been good for an extended period of time.’’
Countless times we’ve heard similar words spoken in a courtroom: I’m a good guy, your honour. I didn’t mean it.
What was not required, apparently, was an apology to his teammates.
“No, no. I mean, they understand. Like I said, I want to protect my teammates. At that point in the game, I didn’t feel like it was a malicious play to go in and try to hurt him. It was more of a statement thing.’’
Adding of his mates: “They were definitely supportive. That’s just how teammates are going to be. They understand I want to be out there more than every single guy. I never want to disappoint. But it’s a protection thing. I’m the type of guy to put my foot down and stand up for my teammates, stand up for myself.’’ Stand up, sit down. Bad Kadri. It could be argued there hasn’t been enough mutual minding among this version of the Leafs. Or maybe the game has changed so drastically that it’s sometimes unrecognizable, purportedly for the better.
“He’s a really competitive guy,” argued Jake Gardiner. “You saw it, not in the best way against Boston, but he sticks up for his teammates. He wants to win so bad. So getting him back is going to be an energy boost for us.”
Coach Mike Babcock has had to jury-rig the lines as consequence. But he wasn’t laying the blame for where the Leafs now find themselves at Kadri’s feet.
“The way I look at it, you’ve got to be able to pick each other up and we weren’t able to do that. But he comes back, he’ll make us deeper. Plus he’ll have good energy for us. It’s important to have that going into Boston.”
This series was out of whack before Kadri bushwhacked Wingels. The Leafs aren’t teetering on the ledge 1-3 because of him. But if he seeks to atone, to fire up the heroics, it has to be Saturday night in Beantown.
“You’ve got to believe,” said Kadri. “That’s the most important thing. You’ve got to trust one another.”