HORNBY: Cup winner Kadri has grown up
Kadri #Kadri
The Razza-ma-Naz volume has been turned down.
Once unable to stop himself, either on ice with excitable antics in the heat of battle or from a barbed quote when a mic or notepad was near, Nazem Kadri returned to Toronto as a Stanley Cup winner Saturday, exhibiting the cool demeanor of a champion. That might also be down to the natural maturation of a 32-year-old NHLer, now a husband and father.
He reached a career pinnacle six months ago, lifting the Cup with Colorado, inviting his many critics as a Leaf playoff liability to smooch his derriere. But that was it for bravado, his day with the trophy was mostly in his hometown of London, a low key stop in T.O., then back to business as a big-ticket free agent with Calgary. There was no jewelled ring finger when he met the media pre-game on Saturday.
“You walk a little bit taller everywhere (not just Scotiabank Arena),” Kadri said before his first-period goal in an overtime loss. “But it’s something I worked very hard for. Nice to get that out of the way. Being a champion is special.”
He had been back to SBA with the Avs, but joked this would be “an expensive night” with so many ticket requests.
“Everyone knows I enjoy coming back to this city and how I feel about this place. It’s a great atmosphere on a Saturday night, something I’m really familiar with. I can’t wait.”
For a few years, Kadri was a Leaf rarity, a first-round pick the club hung on to. He did put his heart and soul into the job and once stated his desire to be a role model for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner as they broke in before his trade to the Avs.
“I hope I did, at least I tried to be, you’ll have to ask them,” Kadri said. “When they were coming up, they were mature beyond their years, on the ice, off the ice, great players, who got it right away.”
CROP DUSTING
Straight-talking Alberta farmer Darryl Sutter means what he says.
After declaring Saturday morning some of his established names have to step up, he deleted a couple of them against the Leafs, Milan Lucic and Brett Ritchie.
“The big thing is, our top players have to take a step up,” Sutter had said before Saturday’s loss dropped the Flames’ road record to 3-6-3. “It has really been missing on the road. We’ve won three. It tells you our best players are not playing up to what we need them to do to get points.”
It was the defence and their lack of puck control that Sutter teed off on after the Columbus game and they stumbled into far too many minors versus the Leafs’ potent power play.
Sutter did infer a local bias with the Leafs getting the breaks on the penalty calls.
“That’s one thing I learned a long time ago, when you’re (playing and coaching) in Chicago all those years and you play and come into Toronto, you know what goes on. “I won’t say nothing more.”
OVER THE MOON
Stop the presses, the Leafs won an overtime game – and in the most bizarre tie-breaker fashion, for just the second time in eight tries.
“Feels great to get that off our backs,” said Matthews.
After his stars kept messing things up, often trying risky passes for the quick knockout punch, coach Sheldon Keefe started two defencemen, Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin, with defensive faceoff specialist David Kampf. The aim was to get the puck and if the chance to score wasn’t there, quickly exchange for snipers.
“I figured Sandin would be the most likely to get a high stick in the face,” deadpanned Keefe of what happened two seconds off the draw, putting Toronto on the power play for Mitch Marner’s winner.
“No secret things haven’t gone well in overtime for us,” Keefe added. “After what we’ve been through (losing many 3-on-3 tests off the hop) we needed a shock to the system.”
NICK WON’T NEED SURGERY
If there was good news to be gleaned from Keefe’s injury update on Nick Robertson, it’s that the youngster won’t need shoulder surgery. But the coach forecasts a six-to-eight week recovery after he was slammed in Thursday’s win over Los Angeles.
“It sucks even more because he’s had bad luck with (with long-term absences) and as a young player, it’s tough to get traction. But because he’s been through it before and each time has come out of it a little bit better, that should give him belief he’ll push through.”
JAKE STILL MAKES MARK
Jake Muzzin is not staying on the periphery as he awaits a February re-assessment of his cervical spine injury. While the Leafs are on ice, the defenceman is often been working out next door in the gym and has come on the road. His equipment still hangs in his stall.
“It’s really nice, him coming in and embracing being a pro athlete,” Keefe said. “He’s got a long road ahead of him and we don’t know what’s at the end of it. But he’s very much committed to being part of this team.
“Our guys like having him around. (He brings) a valuable perspective from watching up top. That and his experience are important. He’s still playing a role for our team.”
LOOSE LEAFS
Keefe passed two Toronto coaches in franchise regular season wins with No. 134, Pat Burns and Red Kelly and now stands fifth. It’s a long way to Dick Irvin Sr., who had 215 victories … Keefe had expected Pierre Engvall would get the one game the NHL assessed him after the whack on the head he gave Los Angeles defenceman Sean Durzi on Thursday. Engvall will return Tuesday against Anaheim … Joey Anderson was called up Saturday, his 59 th game NHL game with Toronto and New Jersey. In the 2016 draft, he was picked 73 rd, right after Toronto selected 6-foot-5 defenceman J.D. Greenway, now with Boston’s farm team … Matthews’ power play goal made him the fifth in franchise history with at least 70.
lhornby@postmedia.com