National Post (National Edition)

Constructi­ng Kadri: Coach’s faith helps Leafs centre thrive

Reinforcem­ent helps smooth over turbulence

- BY DAVID ALTER National Post dalter@nationalpo­st.com Twitter.com/Dalter

TORONTO • Throughout his tenure as a member of the Maple Leafs, Nazem Kadri has had instances of turbulence.

In September of 2012, he reported to Toronto Marlies training camp. With the NHL under a lockout, few things managed to take the public focus off the work stoppage.

When his head coach at the time — Dallas Eakins — was asked about Kadri at camp, Eakins took the opportunit­y to slam the young forward’s fitness test results.

Kadri disagreed publicly with Eakins’s assessment. When the NHL reopened its doors four months later, Kadri responded with his most productive season to date, amassing 44 points in 48 games.

A reason for the response was a change in attitude. Instead of being vilified like he was with Eakins, Kadri was given praise by former Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle.

“Whenever you have a coach that believes in you, puts you in areas where you can succeed, it gives you all of the confidence in the world,” said Kadri following his first game that season under Carlyle.

Since that time, Kadri hasn’t managed to reclaim his scoring touch. His 0.92 points per game average from 2013 dropped to 0.64 in 201314. Last season, that number dropped to 0.53 and in addition to the year being remembered for all the wrong reasons, Kadri found himself suspended three games for sleeping in and showing up late for practice.

Since Mike Babcock was introduced as the Maple Leafs new head coach, the positivity behind Kadri has been relentless.

In July, Babcock said he hoped Kadri “puts the screws to us.” The idea being that the one-year $4.1 million contract the Leafs gave the forward would be regretted by the organizati­on for not locking him up to a longer and more affordable term. It was Babcock’s endorsemen­t of Kadri’s capabiliti­es.

When Kadri is given praise, he tends to pay it back.

“I have daily conversati­ons with him. He always brings me in and has some sort of advice for me, which is nice. Anything the coach has to say to me I’m going to take it with a grain of salt and try to utilize it but in past years, communicat­ion has been lacking a little bit,” said Kadri. “It’s just nice to have that daily conversati­on about what you need to do or what we should be doing or what you’ve done well.”

On Wednesday night, Nazem Kadri committed a turnover late in the third period. An errant pass to defenceman Roman Polak went right to the stick of Sabres forward Evander Kane. That set the motion for the Leafs eventual 2-1 shootout loss.

Still, Kadri was positively reinforced.

“He supported me right after it happened. He told me not to worry about it and to shake it off,” Kadri said of the error. “I mean, he threw me out on the next shift. It definitely wasn’t an effort thing. At the end of the day, it’s still a turnover and I still have to make that play. But it’s nice to have that support.”

Kadri has just one goal and two assists through six games this season. But, he has proven to be a quick study in possession under Babcock. Kadri is recording 52 per cent of the shot attempts toward the opposition when he is on the ice. His 29 shots on goal rank him fourth in the league going into Thursday night’s games.

“I’m definitely starting to understand that even if you don’t score, those secondary chances are coming off it and it creates secondary opportunit­ies for linemates,” he said. “Anytime you can put the puck to the net, it’s never a bad thing. I like shooting the puck. I don’t think it’s going to favour the shooting percentage too much.”

With centre Tyler Bozak sidelined with a lower-body injury, Kadri has shouldered an extra workload alongside forwards James van Reimsdyk and Leo Komarov. As long as Babcock and Kadri can stay in a positive working environmen­t, there’s room for both the team and the player to grow. The Leafs held an off-ice workout on Thursday. Babcock is hopeful Tyler Bozak will return to the lineup Saturday against the Canadiens in Montreal. Bozak was injured in the second period of Toronto’s 6-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets last Friday. He has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury… There is no timeline for defenceman Jake Gardiner who remains out with an undisclose­d injury. Babcock ruled Gardiner out for at least Saturday’s game… Defenceman Frank Corrado was assigned to the Toronto Marlies on a conditioni­ng stint. Corrado was acquired by the Leafs when the Vancouver Canucks placed the defenceman on waivers. He has not played a game since joining the Leafs roster on Oct. 6.

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