NAZEM THE DREAM

Sammy Brezovsky

After Nazem Kadri left the Toronto Maple Leafs, I knew he would be great. As much as the salty Leafs fan in me was angry with him, having potentially cost us two series, I believed in the kid from London.

Kadri is the type of player who is a pest to play against, but a player you love to have on your side. Comparable to players like Brendan Gallagher and Brad Marchand, he finds a way to not only get under the skin of his opponents, but capitalize on those emotional moments in momentous ways.

“Nazem the Dream” is the shutdown forward every coach dreams of, with some of my fondest Leafs memories of him playing that role to perfection. His role in some of those key games back in the day was to stop guys like Steven Stamkos or Sidney Crosby. In those assignments he always seemed to find a way to rise to the occasion and not only make their blood boil, but render them useless for their respective teams.

Of course, he’s never been short of controversy, Kadri has been suspended what feels like 1000 times, with the length always being a questionable decision.

Those choices for how long he was sidelined were so harsh, in fact, that they started to become a meme. Dirty plays that wouldn’t even involve the Avalanche or the Leafs would be met with a flurry of fans commenting “Kadri gets 8 games for that” or “JUST IN: Nazem Kadri Suspended for the season” or something similar.

His most recent dramatic, controversial event was a collision with Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington. In the play, Kadri attempted to play the puck in front of the Blues goal as any player with a brain would. Unfortunately for him, as well as Binnington, Blues defender Calle Rosen directs Kadri right into the net, toppling the St.Louis netminder over and absolutely enraging fans.

Because of Kadri’s long history of disciplinary issues, the media and fans all had a reaction to it. Most fans who have two eyes saw the fact that an unfortunate accident had occurred, but Rosen was the perpetrator. Not Kadri.

However, because of the fact that Kadri is “the guy people love to hate” he received countless nasty messages, comments and DMs trashing him, and even a water bottle thrown at him by the very goaltender he got knocked into. To make matters worse, because of his heritage and religious beliefs he himself received hateful messages and death threats following the game from idiots who align with Jordan Binnington circa 2011.

Hate speech has no place not only in the NHL, but the world. To think, Kadri is already a guy who gets trashed on enough for his pesty, effective style of play. But the fact that he’s also dealt with racists all throughout his life, being set aside from the stereotypical white “good Canadian boy” shows his strength, determination, and above all else, how deserving of respect and compassion he is.

But how did he respond?

Not one, not two, but THREE GOALS.

After going through one of the worst experiences a person can possibly imagine, Kadri netted his first career playoff hat-trick. As a hockey fan, I am ecstatic for not only the scenes from Monday night, but for what he’s been able to overcome.

As a Leafs fan I am so proud that this young phenom we had the pleasure of watching is finally blossoming into the all-star everyone knew he could be. For Nazem’s sake, as well as the league’s greater good, I hope that he continues to shine despite the hardships he’s constantly battling.

I would love to see #91 (or #43 in my eyes) lift the cup this year. He not only deserves it, but I know he is capable of getting it done for his team.