You knew it was going to be a big one given his history, however I am certain that even Nazem Kadri himself was left stunned by the decision that came down late last night from the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety,
In the late hours of Friday night or the early hours of Saturday morning for some, the league dropped the hammer on the Colorado Avalanche forward when they revealed that Kadri would be suspended for a whopping 8 playoff games following his hit to the head of St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk.
Kadri has had the book thrown at him following the hit that occurred on Wednesday night in Colorado, for those of you who missed the hit you can see it here:
There's no question that the head was the main point of contact on this hit and as the NHL argued in their ruling on Friday night, there is also little doubt that Kadri could have opted to deliver the hit through the shoulder and body of Faulk rather than through his head. This alongside with Kadri's disciplinary history in recent years is why the suspension will prove to be such a harsh one for both Kadri and his team once again.
Kadri, who now has a long history of being suspended during the most important games of the season, has once again placed his team at a major deficit at the worst possible time. Fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs will be quite familiar with this predicament from Kadri after the veteran forward was suspended in back to back playoff runs, with many believing that his second suspension against the Boston Bruins in the first round may have changed the outcome of that series. In fact there is very good reason to believe that Kadri's inability to control his actions during the playoffs led to him being traded to the Avalanche in the first place.
Here is a look at the suspension he received for cross checking Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk in the head during his time with the Leafs:
For a full break down of the NHL's ruling you can check out the video below courtesy of the league itself.
