Great job on editing the quote, which is actually (from the link you provided):
“It felt like we were there a lifetime. We were down there for a while,” Kassian said. “He was holding my leg, it was reactionary. I was just trying to get him off me, kick him off me. I was just trying to get my foot loose.
“If I kicked him hard, I think he would have flew back or the ref would have called a penalty.”
My opinion... Kassian wasn't actually trying to injure the Cernak; if he was trying to do that he could have kicked harder and even picked a different spot (like Cernak's face). But it was incredibly stupid. You don't "push" someone with a knife blade cause that's just stupid. Given his recent suspension and discussion with DoPS just a month ago, his suspension will be meaningful.
As far as "the code" goes, AFAIK it encompasses more than just being willing to drop the gloves when you throw a questionable hit. It also encompasses things like not kicking, two-handing someone in the head with a stick, fish-hooking, eye-gouging, blind punches, etc. Being willing to drop your gloves when you "break the code" is PART of the code, but not the entire thing.
As far as Cernak not reacting, maybe it's because, unlike Kassian, he realized there was a hockey game going on, and since he wasn't hurt, the smarter move was to not get into a fight.
And finally, Kassian started this whole thing by wrapping his arm around Cernak and pulling him down on top of himself and Archibald. And at the time of the kick, both his legs were free.
C