Series Talk: Nazzy

[Coachcorner]

Happy for him.

But man it's like every former leaf is winning.

Kessel followed by Bozak/Steen/Gunnarsson followed by Schenn, now Kadri.

Kadri is the man man. But you is also right, so many of our past players couldn't handle the pressure in (toronto), but elsewhere they shined more and handled it better. Kessel is one of the better examples. Only REAL winners can win in toronto.. hockey's mecca. Sundin etc Roberts and belfour (drunk) were so close. Domi etc. Tucker. They was in the conference finals. None of our other losers were'nt. Period. Now we have a squad who also couldn't handle the pressure. Just like many others. We will have to see sire, whom will prevail next season and rise to the occation. That'll be very interesting for surely and we will follow hockey intensively as it returns. Lets see who warriors we get this summer. This a hot one for surely.

 

[Gary Nylund]

It’s funny because he only narrowly dodged a suspension again…

To be fair, he was injured soon after so his absence is equivalent to if he had been suspended.

Indeed and this also contradicts the previous poster's theory that Sakic "straightened him out". Naz is a very good player when he plays, but I wouldn't count on him not getting suspended in the playoffs again.

We love him when he was here? As I recall there was a strong contingent of kadri haters the entire time he played for the Leafs.

Let's be honest with ourselves, it's all spilled milk at this point. He's long gone. Regardless, he's exactly the kind of player who the least could use to potentially get to the cup.
Scores big goals, tough as nails, great offensive sense, now an elite defensive Center as well....

I didn't say "we" loved him, I said "I" loved him. There absolutely was a strong contingent of Kadri haters (one in particular) but I was one of the few people that was always sticking up for him. I was always a huge fan and he was my favourite player for years.

IIRC when he signed his contract after a 45 point season, I was telling people that he played amazing that season, much better than 45 points would have you think. He started the season in a brutal scoring slump but snapped out of in early DEC I think and went from a 32 point pace to a 55 point pace the rest of the way. I went on record at that time predicting he would average 55 points over the duration of his contract and it wasn't for covid costing him 50 games or whatever, he would have cleared that with room to spare.

 

[All Mod Cons]

It only seems that way because of how far Leaf fans are willing to dig and bring up the past.

Where arent Sens fans talking about the Duchene trade? That deal made up 1/3 of their D core.

Why aren’t the Islanders fans talking about Devon Toews?

Why aren’t Stars fans talking about how they bought-out Nischushkin?

Why aren’t the Devils, Flyers and Stars talking about how they missed on Makar?

They most likely are and have been.

It's not just Kadri. It's Tavares, Marchment, Marleau, Holl and McCann. It's trying to think outside the box when the better solution is next to you in the box. It's thinking you're going to reinvent something, when 29 (now 31) of your peers won't follow suit. It's making change for change sake, while simultaneously refusing to change something because you've "bet your career" on that one aspect.

It's, quite frankly, mistep after mistep after mistep. I genuinely believe at least 40% of posters here would've won at least one round had they taken the job on May 11th, 2018.

 

[Koolboss]

"Dubas' decision to go with Tavares and not Kadri has cost TOR a Stanley Cup".

-Nick Kypreos 2022

Wow took him 4 years to figure that out lol

 

[Koolboss]

He has one good season to make people forget his whole frustrating history and Leafs twitter is back kissing his ass for no apparent reason.

Damn those tears are still not dry eh

I see this whole turn of events as just another notch in the embarrassment ledger for Toronto. Good on you Naz for shoving it down our throats

End of discussion - this sums it up

 

[Anthrax442]

That one good season helped his team win a cup……..I would take that all day long over what we have

That can happen to anyone. Literally a better season form Kerfoot or Mikheyev or Even Spezza could give us that one extra goal to make it to 2nd round.

Naz was "just okay" when he was traded, stop treating it like when they traded Wendel.

 

[PromisedLand]

I see this whole turn of events as just another notch in the embarrassment ledger for Toronto. Good on you Naz for shoving it down our throats

hey hey hey man.... you spelled "Trash Leafs management" incorrectly there

all of them. who won. [which, congrats to them], won playing on teams where they were placed in their ideal situation. Dion wasn't captain and first pair D for Ottawa. Bozak wasn't 1st line centre. Kessel was not the first line winger and the star of the show. and it seems that Kadri rightly got the kick in the pants he needed after being traded and was connecting with his line.

They weren't the stars, they weren't the main horses, they were where they needed to to be, playing the roles the should have, probably for the most part being paid normal amounts of money (those who signed in UFA). and I am only speaking for myself. Again, I think Kessel has a very short shelf life with teams. See Boston, see here, see Pittsburgh. my isssue with him was never about his playoff performances. I personally didn't want bozak to go but we couldn't afford him, and Naz was a flipping dipstick in both playoff runs and I personally don't blame management after they talked to him and promising he learned his lesson to take the same kind of penalty, in the same freaking corner basically around the same time as the last one, being extremely apprehensive about him being on the team. [not. as people love lament. "the team is marshallmallowy soft, etc etc." but whatever].

let's not pretend that if they all stayed here together, we were winning it all.

Toronto is as "insufferable" to play in as other major markets with a big historic past, and I would say as insufferable as Toronto is, it's still easier than a lot of the other markets because at the end of the day it's all hot noise. most of the "pressure" goes away if someone makes a big hit here. the pressure isn't even to win a cup here anymore, it's just to win a playoff series. you think that would fly in New York, or Boston, or Philadelphia or England for any of the soccer clubs?

at any rate. congrats to Naz for winning. I am sincerely glad he did, and that more importantly got his poop together and played extremely well.

"For everyone that thought Kadri was a liability in the playoffs...."

umm... I'd let Naz say it.... do you need me to put the youtube clip? or you good?

 

[Beneven Stanciano]

It's crazy how the Avalanche lost Kadri for 4-5 games and still closed a series out and won some games in the Final. Same for the lightning going the distance without Point since Gm7. These teams were clearing bodies from the crease, fighting intense battles on the wall, just flat out competing, doing things almost none of our guys do even when 100% healthy.

For the Leafs being "right there", it seems like if there is an injury to any D-man or top 9 forward the result starts looking pretty bleak.

I believe in Matthews & that's about it. I feel like the rest of this team is a bunch of Roger Dorn's, and the ones who aren't, it's going to rub off.

If you watched any of the later rounds of the playoffs, have you ever seen the Leafs play as physically invested and engaged as those teams? It doesn't even seem like something many of them are capable of. It seems like we invested our biggest dollars and leadership responsibilities into guys who are amazing hockey players but not necessarily guys that pull you into the fight or lead through the wall. I saw someone recently on here say 'Dubas is collecting players but not building a team' which I feel is pretty spot-on.

Last year in our locker room after Round 1 you had Marner saying he didn't feel he really needs to change anything, the rest of the team & management felt they were close, this one was going to sting for a while, really believe in this group, etc.

Last year I remember one thing from Colorado's locker room post-playoffs. The whole league remembers one line from their post game presser. The proof IS the results and one team clearly meant what they were saying and the other looks like they're full of shit.

Everyone here gets years & years to figure it out except Kadri. If one player going down crumbles our house of cards, be it Kadri, Tavares, Muzzin, maybe it's not built *that* well. Those 3 examples are from different years. In this run alone the Avs were without D Sam Girard, F Andre Burakovsky and Kadri for some time.

Kadri seems like the type of guy you want to play with and play for. He drags people into the fight and he seems to raise other peoples intensity levels. I can't believe management either didn't recognize that or didn't value it.

 

[PromisedLand]

Indeed and this also contradicts the previous poster's theory that Sakic "straightened him out". Naz is a very good player when he plays, but I wouldn't count on him not getting suspended in the playoffs again.

yeah man....

Leafs have done so much better since the Kadri trade. Finally able to go on deep runs...

It's crazy how the Avalanche lost Kadri for 4-5 games and still closed a series out and won some games in the Final. Same for the lightning going the distance without Point since Gm7. These teams were clearing bodies from the crease, fighting intense battles on the wall, just flat out competing, doing things almost none of our guys do even when 100% healthy.

For the Leafs being "right there", it seems like if there is an injury to any D-man or top 9 forward the result starts looking pretty bleak.

I believe in Matthews & that's about it. I feel like the rest of this team is a bunch of Roger Dorn's, and the ones who aren't, it's going to rub off.

If you watched any of the later rounds of the playoffs, have you ever seen the Leafs play as physically invested and engaged as those teams? It doesn't even seem like something many of them are capable of. It seems like we invested our biggest dollars and leadership responsibilities into guys who are amazing hockey players but not necessarily guys that pull you into the fight or lead through the wall. I saw someone recently on here say 'Dubas is collecting players but not building a team' which I feel is pretty spot-on.

Last year in our locker room after Round 1 you had Marner saying he didn't feel he really needs to change anything, the rest of the team & management felt they were close, this one was going to sting for a while, really believe in this group, etc.

Last year I remember one thing from Colorado's locker room post-playoffs. The whole league remembers one line from their post game presser. The proof IS the results and one team clearly meant what they were saying and the other looks like they're full of shit.

Everyone here gets years & years to figure it out except Kadri. If one player going down crumbles our house of cards, be it Kadri, Tavares, Muzzin, maybe it's not built *that* well. Those 3 examples are from different years. In this run alone the Avs were without D Sam Girard, F Andre Burakovsky and Kadri for some time.

Kadri seems like the type of guy you want to play with and play for. He drags people into the fight and he seems to raise other peoples intensity levels. I can't believe management either didn't recognize that or didn't value it.

Except for Matthews, and Rielly I don't trust anybody on the Leafs to get it going when things get tough.

hon. shoutout to muzzin but he is getting old and slow. Spezza is retired

Youngsters are excused (Lily, Sandin and Robertson).

 

[cannucky]

Cant wait for Naz to bring the Cup to TO. Would be funny if he brings it around the Scotia Bank Center

and doesn't let anybody near it just stands out front with it held aloft singing we are the champions , lol

It's crazy how the Avalanche lost Kadri for 4-5 games and still closed a series out and won some games in the Final. Same for the lightning going the distance without Point since Gm7. These teams were clearing bodies from the crease, fighting intense battles on the wall, just flat out competing, doing things almost none of our guys do even when 100% healthy.

For the Leafs being "right there", it seems like if there is an injury to any D-man or top 9 forward the result starts looking pretty bleak.

I believe in Matthews & that's about it. I feel like the rest of this team is a bunch of Roger Dorn's, and the ones who aren't, it's going to rub off.

If you watched any of the later rounds of the playoffs, have you ever seen the Leafs play as physically invested and engaged as those teams? It doesn't even seem like something many of them are capable of. It seems like we invested our biggest dollars and leadership responsibilities into guys who are amazing hockey players but not necessarily guys that pull you into the fight or lead through the wall. I saw someone recently on here say 'Dubas is collecting players but not building a team' which I feel is pretty spot-on.

Last year in our locker room after Round 1 you had Marner saying he didn't feel he really needs to change anything, the rest of the team & management felt they were close, this one was going to sting for a while, really believe in this group, etc.

Last year I remember one thing from Colorado's locker room post-playoffs. The whole league remembers one line from their post game presser. The proof IS the results and one team clearly meant what they were saying and the other looks like they're full of shit.

Everyone here gets years & years to figure it out except Kadri. If one player going down crumbles our house of cards, be it Kadri, Tavares, Muzzin, maybe it's not built *that* well. Those 3 examples are from different years. In this run alone the Avs were without D Sam Girard, F Andre Burakovsky and Kadri for some time.

Kadri seems like the type of guy you want to play with and play for. He drags people into the fight and he seems to raise other peoples intensity levels. I can't believe management either didn't recognize that or didn't value it.

Hey ! What have you been told about using reality to cloud the HF Narrative ? right now thats about enough of that eh !

 

[Racer88]

That can happen to anyone. Literally a better season form Kerfoot or Mikheyev or Even Spezza could give us that one extra goal to make it to 2nd round.

Naz was "just okay" when he was traded, stop treating it like when they traded Wendel.

I agree it can happen to anyone but the fact remains it happened with Kadri and none of our current players included Matthews and Marner

 

[cannucky]

yeah man....

Leafs have done so much better since the Kadri trade. Finally able to go on deep runs...





Except for Matthews, and Rielly I don't trust anybody on the Leafs to get it going when things get tough.

hon. shoutout to muzzin but he is getting old and slow. Spezza is retired

Youngsters are excused (Lily, Sandin and Robertson).

Is this one of those things were you say the opposite of everything ? Oh sorry just re-read it and the sarcasm came through , never mind carry on .

 

[Gary Nylund]

yeah man....

Leafs have done so much better since the Kadri trade. Finally able to go on deep runs...

This has nothing to do with my post so not sure why you're quoting me.

 

[Gabriel426]

It's crazy how the Avalanche lost Kadri for 4-5 games and still closed a series out and won some games in the Final. Same for the lightning going the distance without Point since Gm7. These teams were clearing bodies from the crease, fighting intense battles on the wall, just flat out competing, doing things almost none of our guys do even when 100% healthy.

For the Leafs being "right there", it seems like if there is an injury to any D-man or top 9 forward the result starts looking pretty bleak.

I believe in Matthews & that's about it. I feel like the rest of this team is a bunch of Roger Dorn's, and the ones who aren't, it's going to rub off.

If you watched any of the later rounds of the playoffs, have you ever seen the Leafs play as physically invested and engaged as those teams? It doesn't even seem like something many of them are capable of. It seems like we invested our biggest dollars and leadership responsibilities into guys who are amazing hockey players but not necessarily guys that pull you into the fight or lead through the wall. I saw someone recently on here say 'Dubas is collecting players but not building a team' which I feel is pretty spot-on.

Last year in our locker room after Round 1 you had Marner saying he didn't feel he really needs to change anything, the rest of the team & management felt they were close, this one was going to sting for a while, really believe in this group, etc.

Last year I remember one thing from Colorado's locker room post-playoffs. The whole league remembers one line from their post game presser. The proof IS the results and one team clearly meant what they were saying and the other looks like they're full of shit.

Everyone here gets years & years to figure it out except Kadri. If one player going down crumbles our house of cards, be it Kadri, Tavares, Muzzin, maybe it's not built *that* well. Those 3 examples are from different years. In this run alone the Avs were without D Sam Girard, F Andre Burakovsky and Kadri for some time.

Kadri seems like the type of guy you want to play with and play for. He drags people into the fight and he seems to raise other peoples intensity levels. I can't believe management either didn't recognize that or didn't value it.

It starts with leadership of the team. Mack and Landy. Both guys were warriors that fight for every inch of the Ice.
They played for the logo and the team.


Then you look at JT, AM, MM and even Reilly. Reilly is the only one who seemed to be in the warriors mode.

That can happen to anyone. Literally a better season form Kerfoot or Mikheyev or Even Spezza could give us that one extra goal to make it to 2nd round.

Naz was "just okay" when he was traded, stop treating it like when they traded Wendel.

Getting into the 2nd round is not the Holy Grail, winning the Cup is the ultimate goal.

 

[cannucky]

Kadri missed 11 games at the end of the season to injury after they were already a lock , who do you think carried this team when Mackinnon missed 17 games and Landy missed 31 games mid season ? maybe it was the guy who took over the first line and was top five in league points when he got hurt ? Kadri carried this team on his back along with Nikko and Bura when they could have easily folded and everybody would have said it was OK because their captain and star forward were hurt for so many games . Now all anybody wants to talk about is the playoffs ? This is a team of warriors one falls it's next up keep on trucking , no excuses boys leave that for the weak willed teams of the league eh !

 

[Koolboss]

Thanks to the OP for making this thread - You can kiss his ass you if don't like it and while you at it wave to Dubas

 

[PromisedLand]

They most likely are and have been.

It's not just Kadri. It's Tavares, Marchment, Marleau, Holl and McCann. It's trying to think outside the box when the better solution is next to you in the box. It's thinking you're going to reinvent something, when 29 (now 31) of your peers won't follow suit. It's making change for change sake, while simultaneously refusing to change something because you've "bet your career" on that one aspect.

It's, quite frankly, mistep after mistep after mistep. I genuinely believe at least 40% of posters here would've won at least one round had they taken the job on May 11th, 2018.

If I was the GM Leafs would already have the cup by now

 

[PromisedLand]

It's crazy how the Avalanche lost Kadri for 4-5 games and still closed a series out and won some games in the Final. Same for the lightning going the distance without Point since Gm7. These teams were clearing bodies from the crease, fighting intense battles on the wall, just flat out competing, doing things almost none of our guys do even when 100% healthy.

For the Leafs being "right there", it seems like if there is an injury to any D-man or top 9 forward the result starts looking pretty bleak.

I believe in Matthews & that's about it. I feel like the rest of this team is a bunch of Roger Dorn's, and the ones who aren't, it's going to rub off.

If you watched any of the later rounds of the playoffs, have you ever seen the Leafs play as physically invested and engaged as those teams? It doesn't even seem like something many of them are capable of. It seems like we invested our biggest dollars and leadership responsibilities into guys who are amazing hockey players but not necessarily guys that pull you into the fight or lead through the wall. I saw someone recently on here say 'Dubas is collecting players but not building a team' which I feel is pretty spot-on.

Last year in our locker room after Round 1 you had Marner saying he didn't feel he really needs to change anything, the rest of the team & management felt they were close, this one was going to sting for a while, really believe in this group, etc.

Last year I remember one thing from Colorado's locker room post-playoffs. The whole league remembers one line from their post game presser. The proof IS the results and one team clearly meant what they were saying and the other looks like they're full of shit.

Everyone here gets years & years to figure it out except Kadri. If one player going down crumbles our house of cards, be it Kadri, Tavares, Muzzin, maybe it's not built *that* well. Those 3 examples are from different years. In this run alone the Avs were without D Sam Girard, F Andre Burakovsky and Kadri for some time.

Kadri seems like the type of guy you want to play with and play for. He drags people into the fight and he seems to raise other peoples intensity levels. I can't believe management either didn't recognize that or didn't value it.

In the end hockey team is like a brotherhood. one for all and all for one.

Team culture is where it is at IMO. And it starts with dubas.

example:

theathletic.com/news/gabriel-landeskog-slams-officiating-after-avalanches-loss-to-hurricanes-very-unfortunate-that-it-comes-down-to-that/6332O9PqY9lM/

There are many other examples btw from the Avs where team supports their player including their coach/management. It just strengthens the bond, and players will go through wall for each other.

excerpt from the link above:

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

yeah man....

Leafs have done so much better since the Kadri trade. Finally able to go on deep runs...





Except for Matthews, and Rielly I don't trust anybody on the Leafs to get it going when things get tough.

hon. shoutout to muzzin but he is getting old and slow. Spezza is retired

Youngsters are excused (Lily, Sandin and Robertson).

Lowkey Muzzin is one of our more productive playoff players offensively. His impact defensively and physically are obvious and makes you realize what a big loss he was in those CBJ and MTL series, but he was third in goal scoring in 2021, and tied for third in 2022.

 

[All Mod Cons]

In the end hockey team is like a brotherhood. one for all and all for one.

Team culture is where it is at IMO. And it starts with dubas.

example:

theathletic.com/news/gabriel-landeskog-slams-officiating-after-avalanches-loss-to-hurricanes-very-unfortunate-that-it-comes-down-to-that/6332O9PqY9lM/

There are many other examples btw from the Avs where team supports their player including their coach/management. It just strengthens the bond, and players will go through wall for each other.

excerpt from the link above:

View attachment 563036

Instead of standing up for our players, calling out officials, calling out Dops, acting like we're an organization that actually matters in the grander scheme of things, we stay silent and trade away the player.

Yay

 

[PromisedLand]

Kadri missed 11 games at the end of the season to injury after they were already a lock , who do you think carried this team when Mackinnon missed 17 games and Landy missed 31 games mid season ? maybe it was the guy who took over the first line and was top five in league points when he got hurt ? Kadri carried this team on his back along with Nikko and Bura when they could have easily folded and everybody would have said it was OK because their captain and star forward were hurt for so many games . Now all anybody wants to talk about is the playoffs ? This is a team of warriors one falls it's next up keep on trucking , no excuses boys leave that for the weak willed teams of the league eh !

why u gotta include facts in the "narrative" thats been forced by bots

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I didn’t want Kadri gone after we lost to the f***ing Bruins again after his second straight suspension. It was an emotional response. Even with the league basically conspiring against him and us with that piss poor excuse for officiating in Game 2 and Parros being harder on Kadri and the Leafs than any other franchise I thought Kadri could’ve handled himself better. I still maintain however that the problem wasn’t the move itself, it’s what he was moved for. Tyson Barrie and Alexander Kerfoot were and are so wrong for this franchise, it’s no coincidence that our worst season under Dubas was with both of them on the team.

The Calgary trade would’ve made much more sense but as we all know Naz blocked it. Instead of forcing through a bad trade Dubas should’ve just held onto him at that point and waited until a better deal came along. Eventually he’d have either found one or Kadri would’ve moved up to the second line with JT and Willy, and our top 6 would look a lot better now with 2 shit disturbers who don’t take crap on lines 1 and 2.

Also, as usual with nearly every core player we seem to trade, it feels worse because they go on to win Lord Stanley while our Leafs continue to find new ways to lose in round one. Not that I wanted Kadri or Kessel or Bozak, etc to go Cup-less throughout their careers. But it does sting when guys who couldn’t make it work here all of the sudden turn into the clutchest players in the post-season. Christ even Phaneuf went to a Conference Finals, and scored an OT winner en route to boot.

I’m any case, good for him for telling everyone of his detractors to stick it, though I find it funny that guys like Sid Seixero are praising him for it when he’s the type of guy Kadri is talking about.

 

[Stephen]

They most likely are and have been.

It's not just Kadri. It's Tavares, Marchment, Marleau, Holl and McCann. It's trying to think outside the box when the better solution is next to you in the box. It's thinking you're going to reinvent something, when 29 (now 31) of your peers won't follow suit. It's making change for change sake, while simultaneously refusing to change something because you've "bet your career" on that one aspect.

It's, quite frankly, mistep after mistep after mistep. I genuinely believe at least 40% of posters here would've won at least one round had they taken the job on May 11th, 2018.

One of things I actively disagree with about Kyle’s tenure here in Toronto is the verbiage of betting this and that, staking careers, playing percentages. It’s a process that implies gambling and willfully making things happen and thinking of team building like a probability model. It’s long bet after long bet, belief after belief and I think it should actually just be honest, sound program building. We already lucked out on the unique skill foundation. We just needed good asset stewardship and maintain a focus good program management. And yet we’re in this cycle of endless short term bets at key position. Even when we hit the “jackpot” we still need to come back and win even greater odds.

 

[keonsbitterness]

Getting into the 2nd round is not the Holy Grail, winning the Cup is the ultimate goal.

At this point they're both Holy Grails.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Wow took him 4 years to figure that out lol

How long did it take you to figure out?