Leafs fans have no one to blame but Nazem Kadri for 5-game suspension

Leafs and Bruins fans will never agree on the way Game 2 was handled, but nothing changes the fact that another selfish play by Nazem Kadri really hurt his team.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Toronto Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri makes a boneheaded, dangerous play in a playoff game against the Boston Bruins, potentially hurting another player and his team’s chances in the series. What an idiot.

You may think I’m calling him an idiot because of the crosscheck to the face of Jake DeBrusk (my favorite young player) or his constant complaining to referees. I am not.

Nazem Kadri is and idiot because once again, he was the best player on the ice for the Leafs in their round one playoff series against the Bruins and once again, he won’t see the end of that series.

On Monday, the Department of Player Safety handed Nazem Kadri a five-game suspension for his blow to the head of Jake DeBrusk. It marked the second time in two seasons that we’ve seen Kadri in this situation.

Nazem Kadri should have learned last season that one stupid, selfish moment could shift a series. Kadri, a repeat offender, threw a dangerous hit on downed Bruins forward Tommy Wingels in their seven-game series last season.

He was suspended for the rest of the series and the Leafs lost in Game 7. Kadri was one of the better players on the ice in that series and was easily the best Leaf in this one. Yet, here we are again.

Leafs fans were quick to jump all over the referees on Saturday night, claiming if they had officiated a better game, it wouldn’t have gone so far (ignoring the actions of Game 1 in the process).

Bruins fans are no saints in this either, throwing out the “it’s playoff hockey” excuse to cover any and every play that ranged from remotely over the line to definitely penalty-worthy, of which there were a few.

No one arguing this series on Twitter is completely in the right and Bruins and Leafs media members have been fueling their respective fires for the better part of two days now.

Something Brad Marchand did a year ago isn’t relevant here. Something Jake DeBrusk did earlier in the game is not relevant here. An inadvertent knee on knee hit, whether it should have been penalized or not, is not relevant here.

Something that hypocritical, pandering Sean Avery said on his Instagram is not relevant here. The only thing that matters is that the Bruins and Leafs are in another very tight playoff series and a stupid decision in a heated moment took the Leafs best player off the ice for the rest of the series.

Let’s call a momentary truce between Bruins and Leafs fans. I could easily cherry pick a quote from either side of this argument to make a point, but I won’t. The only thing that matters here is that Kadri is hurting his team once again.

The officiating was bad, the cross check was dirty. It doesn’t matter, Kadri isn’t coming back.

Auston Matthews has been a ghost. William Nylander is hurting his team more than he is helping them. Mitch Marner has been fantastic, but clearly hasn’t been able to keep up with the physicality that is sure to continue in Games 3 through 7.

Nazem Kadri was the best player in white and blue on the ice for the first two games and because he couldn’t control his emotions, he won’t be able  to help his team finally get over the growing mountain that is the first round series against the Boston Bruins.

If the Leafs end up losing this series, it won’t be because the Bruins are a better team. It won’t be because Tuukka Rask goes lights out for the rest of the series. It certainly won’t be because of the referees (sorry, Toronto, I know you love that excuse).

If the Leafs lose this series, every Toronto Maple Leafs fan should blame the loss entirely on Nazem Kadri. And if they do end up going down, I hope he feels the same way.