The Department of Player Safety has reached a decision regarding Nazem Kadri and the Colorado Avalanche forward will not be available to the team for a while. Kadri has been issued an eight-game suspension for his hit on St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk. As the accompanying video explains:
It is important to note that while we accept Kadri’s arguement that he was attempting to deliver a full body check, the head was the main point of contact on this hit. While Kadri does make some contact with Faulk’s right shoulder and chest, the brunt of this impact is absorbed by the head of Faulk.
Kadri, 30, had already been suspended five times in his career before this incident, which occurred on Wednesday night in game two of the first-round series between the Avalanche and Blues. A five-minute major was assessed and Kadri was given a match penalty, which initiates an automatic review from the league. Faulk, who was immediately taken from the game, will not play in game three tonight but head coach Craig Berube did tell reporters including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic there is a “chance” he returns at some point in this series.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong spoke with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and indicated that though he doesn’t believe the time is now, a meaningful discussion about the state of player safety in the league needs to be had. He pointed directly to the hit on Robert Bortuzzo which also caused an injury but did not receive any supplementary discipline. Armstrong “isn’t looking to make headlines” according to LeBrun, but is “genuinely concerned.”
Kadri meanwhile will be replaced in the Avalanche lineup by Carl Soderberg for tonight’s game, a trade deadline acquisition that has played just 11 games since returning to the organization. Though Colorado has a stranglehold on the series after outscoring the Blues 10-4 in the first two games (both Avalanche wins), Kadri’s absence will be significant. The veteran center recorded 32 points in 56 games this season, averaging more than 16 minutes a night. Only Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen logged more powerplay time among Avalanche forwards.
In 2013, Kadri was suspended three games for interference. In 2015, he was given a four-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Matt Fraser. In 2016, he was suspended the final four games of the regular season for a cross-check to the face of Luke Glendening. In the 2018 playoffs he received a three-game suspension for boarding Tommy Wingels. The following year he was suspended in the playoffs again, this time for the remainder of the first round (five games) for a cross-check on Jake Debrusk.
As promised: {head shaking} When…will…he…learn?
Never, some people just don’t learn
Way to let your team down again.
I don’t think there’s any continuity in the DoPS suspensions
for those keeping score at home, that’s 8 more then Tom Wilson got.
@DarkSide830 – Sorry I couldn’t hear you there. Tom Wilson’s laughing his ass off!
Dark side, just another POS he is
Wilson got 8 games earlier this year for that nasty boarding. Infraction # who knows, way more than Kadri.
He deserves it based on just his stupid playoff antics but it’s really ridiculous when you see how the league seems to be protecting Wilson from being a repeat offender
Been watching hockey for 50 years and all I can do is shake my head when I see Kadri get 8 games and Wilson 0 games. Both repeat offenders. Kadri’s happened during the play in a single instance. Yes it was bad and deserves some type of discipline. But how is Wilson’s not worse? His happened after the whistle and included multiple offences. All I can say the NHL has gone to pot.
Well said hersch; and to take it a step further, Wilson was fined for “the Buchnevich incident”. The league failed to even acknowledge the Panarin stuff.
Nothing a high profile star having their career ended and/or class action lawsuit won’t fix.
What Kadri did was closer to a two minute minor than an 8 game suspension. Punish him because of his history, OK. But, as stated, this is nonsensical when compared to the actions of Wilson.
Dark analogy here, but…
Kadri tried to shoot the hostage taker and accidentally hit the hostage. Wilson goes in shooting up the whole mall.
No comparison.
Good! Scumbag. It’s a shame, cause he’s a real solid player. But what a douche.
The only comparison between Kadri and Wilson is that they have histories. Kadri tried to decapitate a defenceless player, Wilson did something that was worthy of a two minute penalty. There’s no comparison whatsoever when it comes to the plays. Kadri is such a scumbag, I can’t believe he’s this boneheaded.
Kadri was aiming for the shoulder of Faulk, his body orientation changed at the last second and the shoulder became the head. I don’t think it was malicious of Kadri, but the head was still the primary point of contact. If he’s allowed to hit low (thigh level), maybe this doesn’t happen at all. He was aiming for the shoulder, not the head. These things are going to happen sometimes when things move this fast, but Kadri has done this on purpose in the past, so.. it is what it is.
The fact that so many of you continue to whine and cry about Tom Wilson shows how much of your emotions you have failed to remove from the situation. Go ahead and keep dogpiling like those mindless twitter mobs, it won’t change the fact that you’re wrong. Panarin engaged Wilson in a fight and got his fight. Period. End of discussion. Panarin went after Tom Wilson. Once you’re finally able to understand who started the incident (the punch to the back of Buch’s head is a myth, it never happened), then perhaps you’ll start to understand why Tom Wilson wasn’t and shouldn’t be disciplined for it.
The reality is Panarin dropped his gloves and engaged Wilson. Tom Wilson could have absolutely destroyed Panarin. He could have dropped his gloves and beat the living crap out of him and been completely within the rules (aside from a fighting major) in doing so. It’s a routine scrum and a guy biting off more than he can chew.
The fact that so many of you think there should be a suspension for that and that you can’t actually let go and move on with your lives has become a derangement syndrome. Tom Wilson Derangement Syndrome, that’s what you all have at this point. There’s no logic at all in any of these arguments against him for this incident. Buchnevich’s vicious cross check to the face of Mantha in the next game was far worse than anything Wilson did in this incident.
Tom Wilson Derangement Syndrome, that’s what all of you have. Get over it already. No blame on Panarin for jumping on a guy’s back and dropping the gloves for a fight and instead blaming the other guy when he wins the fight. Wilson could have destroyed Panarin effortlessly. He didn’t. He didn’t even drop his gloves. Panarin did. He didn’t jump on Panarin’s back. He didn’t go after Panarin looking for a fight. Wilson showed restraint in not beating the crap out of him when Panarin energetically engaged him for a fight. He should feel lucky that a few tosses is all he got.
“Tom Wilson Derangement Syndrome” evidently means being able to remember more than one thing at once and then being able to deduce a pattern while not intentionally ignoring intent.
Admittedly, I don’t know the exact terminology in the rule book, but I’m pretty sure that bashing a man’s head into the ice isn’t “completely within the rules”. Just ask Todd Bertuzzi. Although, he should have been banned for life and the NHL botched that one too.
The reason that many of us call this whole thing into question (at least in my opinion) is that 8 games is pretty substantial. It is the result of the league using Kadri’s history against him, and rightfully so. But Wilson’s history hasn’t been used against him in the same way. The fact that Panarin got himself into a fight with Wilson is correct, and if he got punched in the face nobody would be upset with the lack of discipline. The truth is that whatever fancy new syndrome you are diagnosing us with is about as legitimate and respectable as the DoPS.
No one’s head was bashed into the ice. Again, this is the problem; you’re not living in reality with this. It simply never happened.
A pattern? It was a fight that broke out in a hockey scrum. It’s not part of any pattern Wilson has ever been punished for and to suggest that the league hasn’t punished Wilson for his history is also completely incorrect. He’s been punished harshly based on his history for things in the recent past. You’re talking about suspending someone for being in a hockey fight. These aren’t comparable situations nor is getting in a fight worthy of a suspension. What Kadri did and what Wilson did aren’t in the least bit comparable.
It’s not that fancy and new, it just means you think Wilson should be punished for anything he does even something as routine and common as a hockey fight in a scrum just because he has a history doing other, unrelated things that he has in fact been punished for based on his history. How can you sit here and say he hasn’t been punished based on his history? Earlier this year, he was. You’re seriously saying it’s fine if Wilson beats the crap out of Panarin with his fists but it’s not ok to toss him around a bit without punching him with any kind of force? That’s reasonable to you? If Wilson dropped the gloves and used his fists, Panarin would have been hurt way more than simply aggravating a LBI he had been dealing with earlier in the season.
The DoPS is doing fine, they have punished Wilson for his history multiple times. Suggesting they haven’t is another reason why I use TWDS because it is incorrect to state such a thing. A hockey fight is not a suspension worthy offense and the day it becomes one is the beginning of the end of the NHL.
Thankfully Bertuzzi wasn’t banned. He ended up paying Moore $10 mil and the owner for Vancouver $15 mil. He needed to sign over 3 years worth of paychecks. He had to keep playing. The part that bothered me was we didn’t invite Moore to all Canucks games as Bertuzzi being in the building would have been a violation of his court ordered restraining order.
Only deranged person in this convo is you. Seek help.
I am actually with you on most of the points you’re making, but where we aren’t seeing things the same is where Wilson had every intention of driving breads head into the ice. I understand that he didn’t actually get his skull crushed, but the intent was clear and evident. Kinda like how you don’t have to score to be credited with a shot on goal. The fight is fine. Panarin did bite off more than he could chew.
To be clear, the officials in that game are not blameless either. That post-whistle sequence was allowed to go on for way too long.
Fair enough. I guess my reply to that is that if Wilson wanted to drive Bread’s head into the ice, there would be absolutely nothing Bread could have done to stop it. It would have happened if Wilson wanted it to happen. There was literally zero resistance to him doing it if he wanted to do it. He even had two attempts. The only resistance he had was himself and fortunately, it was enough.
With regard to the officials, perhaps… but to be fair to them, I don’t think there was anyone on the ice (goalies aside) that weren’t involved in the scrum. It all escalated pretty quickly and all things considered, I think the refs did the best job they could have done. I don’t think they “allowed” it to go on that long, it was just too much too fast for them to shut down faster than they did. It all happened in a matter of seconds.
“A pattern? It was a fight that broke out in a hockey scrum.”
Yes, when you only look at one data point at a time, you will see no patterns. Very true.
Sorry to ruin your day, Mrs. Wilson.
I appreciate your concern for the quality of my day, but it isn’t the slightest bit ruined nor am I “Mrs.” anyone. Looking at the situation for what it is on it’s own is how you deal with this. If it is found that the player has done those actions before and been suspended for them, then and only then should a player’s history enter the equation. Tom Wilson has never once been suspended for fighting. I don’t know what data points or patterns you’re seeing, but they’re clearly not there.
Kadri has a history of head shots and dirty hits. He, even if it wasn’t malicious or intentional, doesn’t get enough benefit of the doubt in a situation like this to get out of it. I’m sure if there was intent, he’d be looking at much more than eight games. Tom Wilson has a history of high hits. Where’s the high hit here? Where does this fit into the pattern? It doesn’t. At all. He does not have a history of being suspended for fighting nor should anyone. You’re basically advocating that Wilson be suspended for things that no one else would get suspended for which is, yes, derangement hence TWDS.
Things don’t suddenly become suspension worthy just because someone has a history of doing other things. Either something is against the rules or it isn’t. The severity of supplementary discipline can vary, but what the rules are and aren’t should NOT vary and certainly not because of anyone’s emotional bias for or against any of the players involved. Wilson broke no suspension worthy rules in this instance nor does anything that happened fit into any kind of pattern that he has been suspended for in the past at any time.
@sessh So you are ok with Tom Wilson punching a prone player in the head when on top of them? Is that a hockey play?
In hockey the fighting is limited to fists in face. Piledriving, or drop kicks or anything Macho Man Randy Savage would do is not acceptable. So when Tom Wilson piledrives Panarin head first into the ice, he is crossing a line. One that isn’t written into the rules officially so in that aspect you are correct, but otherwise your reasoning is completely off base. Can Tom Wilson roundhouse kick Panarin? It’s a fight, so by your reasoning he can and nobody should judge the conduct of the fight. Maybe a good choke hold, knock out players that way. Chops to the neck. So many good fight moves for Tom to try.
No I am not ok with anyone punching a prone player in the head when on top of them, but nothing like that occurred here. I don’t know why you guys insist on continuing to repeat things that aren’t true just because you don’t like the player involved. The camera from behind the net clearly shows Wilson hit him in the back of the shoulder on the “B” in his nameplate and not even that hard. It was nowhere near his head.
You guys really have to stop propagating things that aren’t true. This is why a lot of you don’t get why this played out the way it did. You think things happened that didn’t actually happen and are then outraged and become emotionally unstable when he isn’t punished for those things you think happened that didn’t actually happen. There’s clear video evidence showing what you think happened didn’t actually happen. It’s not debatable.
As for the rest of your post, I’m just going to assume it was your attempt at stand up comedy. It was kinda funny unless you actually meant all that seriously in which case it’s sad. You’re way too emotionally involved in this to have any sort of rational discussion.
Your logic is flawed and with intended hyperbole attempted to hammer the point home. Clearly failing.
If 90% of viewers see fist to head in slow-mo replays, clearly the 10% who see otherwise must be correct. I just rewatched, just to be sure.
I could care less if it was a 5 times Lady Byng winner, punching a prone player when on top of them is not a hockey play, or in any game acceptable.
As an Oilers fan is was disturbed when Kassian kicked Cernak. I do not like or dislike the player, but the actions go against any and all hockey rules of engagement. He was suspended 7 games, which I felt was light.
Let’s simplify this.
Fist in face vs. fist in face in a defensible situation is ok. Anything else, not ok. No throwing. No kicking. No sticking. No eye gouging. No arm bars. The list is exhaustive, but please keep ignoring the simplicity of the scenario.
From every angle except the one from behind the net, it looks like Wilson punches him in the head. The one angle that doesn’t clearly shows it was not to the head. Slow-mo it all you want, there is a big difference between a shoulder and a head. He hit him in the nameplate on the back of his jersey.
Nice “truth in numbers” fallacy there. Whether or not something is true has nothing to do with how many people believe it. If 90% of people think the sky is purple, it doesn’t make the 10% of people who say it’s blue wrong. It just means the majority is wrong and they are here too and that’s why there’s no suspension. You don’t suspend someone for something they didn’t do. The video evidence is there. If you can’t tell the difference between a shoulder and a head, then there’s not much more to say.
It is hyperbole for you to talk about kicking, choking and whatever else you’re trying to bring up. It’s either an attempt at caricature or it’s an argument being made in bad faith. Either way, it’s not a serious argument because obviously no one thinks any of that is ok.
Guys get punched on the ground ALL THE TIME during scrums. Literally. I’m not sure what hockey you watch, but it’s very common in scrums for that to happen. Guys fall on each other, punches are thrown… what are you even talking about here? Do you actually watch hockey? It’s exceedingly common, so you finding that unacceptable matters not. This isn’t even penalized that often and guys certainly don’t get suspended for it. If anything, both guys get roughing minors and life goes on.
Kicking a player with skates on is a completely different thing. Completely. You could kill someone doing that easily. The fact that you’re even bringing that up as some kind of comparable to this situation just proves my point; you’re not being rational whatsoever.
No throwing? Yeah because that never happens in hockey; it’s called roughing and is dealt with easily or it happens during fights. Kicking, sticking; already carries penalties and for good reason. Eye gouging? Arm bars? Really? I’m not the one using hyperbole here.
@ssesh C’mon dude really, give your head a shake. You’re maniacally insane for defending a absolute lunatic. Wilson will do much worse one day. I’ll await to see your defence of him after that incident.
You’ve set a comically low bar for your definitions of “maniacally insane” and “absolute lunatic” to the point that everyone would qualify for those titles at some point in their lives. You’ve completely trivialized both adjectives to the point that they are meaningless.
Maybe he will. The chances he will do something to get suspended again are actually quite likely. He kept his nose clean for quite awhile however. I would defend any player in this kind of situation, though. It’s wrong and it’s only because it’s Tom Wilson. No other player in the league would get suspended for that scrum and that’s the problem. His history doesn’t make it ok to make up new rules so he can be suspended again. If you’re so sure he will do something again, then there’s plenty of time to plan your attack when he does. Why waste time and energy on this? When and if he does worse, he’ll probably get a record suspension. Just imagine the bliss you’ll feel! This situation is a big nothing burger.
The DoPS did not hesitate to hold Wilson’s history against him just earlier this year. They’re not afraid to do that. They didn’t do it this time because there’s no grounds to suspend him. They aren’t protecting him. It’s just so many of you are out for blood and can’t admit that you got this one wrong, so you’ll forever think it’s incompetence on their part instead of a stubborn refusal to update your priors and admit that the initial emotional reaction from practically everyone was wrong.
The DoPS doesn’t make decisions with their emotions like fans do. If they did, they truly would be incompetent.
The Kassian example was to indicate to you how dispassionate I am as somehow you assume I have a hate on for Wilson, not as an apple to apple comparable of offenses. But again, not getting the intended point.
When players are in a scrum on the ground punching it’s because they started it standing up at which points the Refs immediately break it up. When players fall to the ice, you do not see one sit on another and then just throw a punch. It was absolutely uncalled for. Obviously Panarin a hockey player whose likely seen more hockey then either of us thought it was not cool and throwing his own self-preservation out the window attempted to take on a man who weighs 50 pounds more than him (5 weight classes).
Throwing and roughing. That’s your comparable? Two dudes pushing and shoving vs. a significantly larger man picking up a smaller man and smashing him head first into the ice. There is no hyperbole, that is your comparable.
I see head punch (not an boxing accurate one, but head shot it is), headlines say head punch, from what I’ve gleaned without doing a scientific poll most of humanity sees head punch. You clearly do not, you see punch to jersey. I cannot possibly debate that. I will now take some peyote and enjoy my purple sky :D :D
Peyote, lol, that’s classic KAR. It’s funny Sessh that in the same breathe that you’re saying I’m not qualified to make psychological determinations you’re giving the impression that you are. At any rate, you state that Wilson has kept his nose clean for a long time. But the facts are that his last suspension was only 6 WEEKS earlier. And you continue to say that the DoPS is competent. But you’re wrong. Parros didn’t want to suspend Wilson for that offence either but Bettman stepped in and demanded it. Look up an article titled: George Parros Didn’t Want To Suspend Tom Wilson For Brandon Carlo Hit.
It’s not a comparable because, again, no one’s head or face hit the ice. You keep talking like it actually happened. You just can’t get over the fact that it didn’t happen. You’re fantasizing about things that didn’t happen and talking about them as though they did happen. The hyperbole is that you’re making something up that didn’t happen and using it as a reason to suspend someone which is an exaggeration. Wilson didn’t even really punch Panarin with any sort of intent to hurt him.
Most of humanity is wrong. The video shows they are wrong. It doesn’t matter if 99% of people see head shot, it’s WRONG. That’s why there was no suspension. It was a punch to the shoulder. I was using the nameplate on his jersey as a reference point because that’s where the punch landed.
Yes, throwing is roughing. Guys who whack the goalie one time too many have been thrown to the ice by his teammates multiple times, too many to count. Punches are thrown though not many, but I’ve seen this too many times to count. I’ve seen plenty of fights where it’s at the end or one guy realizes he can’t win, so he’ll just throw his opponent down to the ice to end the fight. In that case, no punches are thrown at that point.
“Most of humanity” used to think the Earth was at the center of the universe. Turns out it didn’t do a thing to make the statement true. Most people also think a porcupine can throw it’s quills at things. Most people think Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth (It isn’t, Mauna Kea is.) Most people think peanuts are nuts when they are in fact legumes. Most people think the Chinese invented the fortune cookie when it was Americans that did that. The list goes on and on. This “most people think” argument is as weak as an argument gets. Most people can and often are wrong. It makes no difference to me what “most people” think. The video speaks for itself.
Likewise, no matter how many times you try to make the claim that someone, anyone’s head or face was “smashed into the ice” does not and will never make it a true statement. You can get all of Asia to go along with you on that, but it will be just as wrong as it is now. Keep repeating it if it makes you feel better, but this is a non-argument. It didn’t happen. If you have to fabricate falsehoods to make your point or prove a suspension should have been levied, all it really proves is you have no case to make.. you and all of Asia.
I was referring to before the Carlo incident. Whether he did or didn’t want to, he did actually suspend him. All I am seeing is one person saying that about Parros and it is, as far as I can tell, an unsubstantiated rumor that’s been copy/pasted on several sites.
As for the rest, um.. were you trying to make a psychological determination? lol.. I wasn’t, I just thought it was funny you were throwing those words around as if it’s nothing. It’s a low bar. We’re talking about a hockey scrum and opinions on the matter and you’re throwing around words like that. It’s a pretty funny overreaction on your part. It must not take much at all for you to pull those words out if this is all it takes. You’re certainly not qualified to make psychological determinations about strangers on the internet if that is in fact what you were trying to do? lol
If this kind of action by Kadri happened in the NFL .. . Wait, this kind of action would not happen in the NFL. Only buffoons in the NHL do things like this.
And now strangely there’s a buffoon in here trying to defend the other buffoon. But he’ll never understand reality.