Liminality
Registered User
- Oct 22, 2008
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Maybe it's both reasons? Maybe Babcock helped him fit better in his role on the ice and Kadri grew up and matured from his previous years.
Organizational support was a big factor and I think Shanahan got directly involved.
But so too was his own personal decision.
There’s a segment of the fan base that hates this message but it comes from Kadri directly:
He had talent and opportunity. He almost pissed it away. He didn’t. A massive credit goes to him for realizing his “off ice excess” and choosing the right path in the cross roads.
“It was literally a wake-up call for Kadri. Shanahan sat him down and made it clear he needed to cut out the off-ice excess if he wanted to be an NHL player. But he also made it clear he thought Kadri could be one of the survivors of the rebuild.
"It was a crossroads in my career and I had to make the right choice," Kadri said. "It was up to me, nobody else, to guide myself in the right direction.”
- Dec 26,2017 Nazem Kadri’s long road to Leafs' overnight success
Babcock put them in suitable roles, gave then realistic expectations and brought in tons of experience. He definitely helped them flourish the most Imo.Both have always been good players, poor utilization by the Leafs. Kadri got jerked around like Leivo is now. For a time Jake was in the press box all the time.
Its kinda dumb to credit Babs or Shanahan for Kadri. He just got screwed around acted out some and then grew up. Who knows if the organization used him right off the bat, maybe less happens outside hockey.
Kadri and Jake only serve to prove how terribly run the TPP Nonis and Burke were.
Maybe it's both reasons? Maybe Babcock helped him fit better in his role on the ice and Kadri grew up and matured from his previous years.
Maybe it's both reasons? Maybe Babcock helped him fit better in his role on the ice and Kadri grew up and matured from his previous years.
Exactly right.
Ron and Randy were not great for him and threw him under the bus when he didn't deserve it.
Babs has given him all the conditions he needs to succeed, and he's taking full advantage of it.
In-between, there was the suspension and the hard look in the mirror where he really matured overnight.
Morrison wasn't fired, he was one of the only scouts still kept. Although I believe he switched to professional scouting instead of looking after the amateur side.Dave Morrison deserves some credit here for making the right pick. A lot of people had Cowan or MPS at that spot. I believe he should not have been fired. Rielly, Nylander and Brown were also good picks. The only draft where we gave him a bunch of picks to work with was 2009 and he was handicapped by Burkes preference for grit, size and toughness.
The year before, probably other guys. Good hockey guys like we have have an eye for this sort of thing. If Nonis were still here, he would have probably shipped him + a 2nd for like Mike Green or something.
He has always yearned to play against the best and finally got his chance under Babcock. I think he could have been playing this style of game effectively from a much earlier point in his career, the talent and drive was there and he was quicker. The long term contract probably took a lot of pressure off of him and allowed him to just concentrate on the best methods to be productive, more garbage goals and less dangles. And to elaborate on this a bit: years ago many people were very supportive of Naz getting more playing time and feeling like the Leafs were wasting his potential. Naz supporters were constantly ridiculed and Kadri was bashed relentlessly. When Kadri finally got a chance to play with JVR and Kessel when Bozak was hurt he played an effective and safe defensive game that boosted the stats of his wingers. However, because Kadri had low point totals during this brief tenure Naz supporters were mocked over his production. I think he was ready to be a defensively minded player many years ago but at that time many considered him to be absolutely terrible at defense: he wasn't.
As much as i'd like to hate on past management for their incompetence, Nonis was pretty good at trades. I mean shipping of Clarkson for nothing was absolutely insane haha. As for Kadri, I think he did have some bad habits early in his career that he needed to work on. I think under Randy he did develop his identity of playing on the edge and the maturity and the complete 200 ft was further refined under babcock.
Kadri was always really resilient and you have to be to play in the Toronto Market. I think in the end that's what allowed him to be the player he is today.
Exactly right.
Ron and Randy were not great for him and threw him under the bus when he didn't deserve it.
Babs has given him all the conditions he needs to succeed, and he's taking full advantage of it.
In-between, there was the suspension and the hard look in the mirror where he really matured overnight.
Some people are so entrenched in the belief that others were holding Kadri back. Coaches. GMs. Line mates (even to this day). Luck. Misuse. These posters have backed him since the beginning.
To hear that most of the “holding back” was coming from choices he was making flies in the face of a set way of viewing the world that they have vested so much time and personal belief in.
So textbook Cogntive Dissonance.
To admit the guy had “off ice excess” or faced a choice of being in the NHL or not (as Shanahan put to him), doesn’t sit. It wasn’t external factors... it was his own.
Sadly, they miss the real beauty of the story and go on full attack mode.
Pookie tactic #1: try to force you into siding with one extreme or the otherIt’s almost as if it’s not a choice between one or the other....
A player can go through individual developmental issues in their personal lives AND face structural constraints due to poor organizational player development systems
It’s almost as if it’s not a choice between one or the other....
A player can go through individual developmental issues in their personal lives AND face structural constraints due to poor organizational player development systems
Pookie tactic #1: try to force you into siding with one extreme or the other
Yeah he took so much abuse here it was shameful. Remember when he was mocked for being a "32 point centre"? Some of us always said that with better wingers and a better team around him he would get more points and it turns out that he didn't even need better wingers, a better team around him was enough though now he finally has good wingers too and is really thriving. All this makes it even more ridiculous when people talk of a "huge turnaround" etc., none of us know what went on off the ice but on the ice, Kadri was always good. All anyone had to do to know this was to watch the games without bias and look beyond point totals.
So true! Not just to survive in this market but to survive all the crap he's had to endure here. Mentally he just might be the toughest player on our team.
agreed. he rose above a lot of adversity on and off the ice. made him stronger. He can be a beast when needed, but not a jerk about it. like some one else recently....Cognitive dissonance at its best.
Lol all the crying over MPS/MSP