Nazem Kadri’s season is over after the NHL suspended the Toronto Maple Leafs forward for four games for cross-checking Red Wings center Luke Glendening in the head. Kadri received a minor penalty for the hit on Saturday.
Toronto’s Nazem Kadri suspended four games for cross-checking Detroit’s Luke Glendening. Video: https://t.co/1JSLEoQ0La
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) April 4, 2016
“As the video shows, Glendening and Kadri are among several players battling for the puck in the corner of the Toronto zone. Glendening is shoved into Kadri. Kadri briefly pins him to the ice. Glendening fights his way back to his feet, knocking Kadri’s helmet off in the process. As the Red Wings stick handle the puck at the blue line, Kadri gets to his feet and takes several hard strides towards Glendening. Ignoring the puck entirely, Kadri raises his stick and uses his momentum to drive it directly into the head of Glendening. This is crosschecking.”
“In this case, Kadri is not using his stick to establish position or in an attempt to prevent a scoring chance. This is not a hockey play. This is a player intentionally striking an opponent with his stick for retaliation for an earlier action in sthe same shift”
As the video notes, Kadri is a repeat offender, which factored into his suspension length. He’ll lose $200,000 in salary per General Fanager due to the suspension. It’s not the first time salary has been taken away from Kadri this season, as he was recently fined $5000 for diving and/or embellishing.
The Leafs’ season has been effectively over for a long time, so losing Kadri isn’t a huge deal. The roster spot will likely be allocated to a Toronto Marlies player who deserves an end of the season look.
Kadri is a good player, but suspensions like this won’t help his reputation. He needs to be smarter and not let emotions get to him like it clearly did in this case.
