Leafs forward Nazem Kadri suspended 4 games for hit to the head
Posted March 18, 2015 11:28 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A week after Nazem Kadri was suspended by his own team for three games, the Toronto Maple Leafs forward was dealt a ban of another kind.
Kadri was suspended four games by NHL’s department of player safety Wednesday for delivering an illegal check to the head of Edmonton Oilers forward Matt Fraser Monday night.
Kadri’s offence will cost him $141,463.41. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
With 9:06 remaining in the third period of the Maple Leafs’ 4-1 loss to the Oilers, Kadri delivered a high hit to Fraser and served a minor penalty for an illegal check to the head.
Fraser had to be helped off the ice and did not return to the game. He suffered a concussion from the hit and is going through the appropriate protocol.
“He’s doing well,” Oilers coach Todd Nelson told reporters Tuesday.
Edmonton captain Andrew Ference retaliated less than four minutes after the Fraser hit by slamming Kadri into the boards.
“He was just kind of bent over a little bit, and I felt like I was just trying to squeeze by him, but then again, things happen quick. I didn’t mean to hurt him,” Kadri told reporters.
Kadri is a repeat offender in the eyes of player safety, having served a three-game suspension in November 2013 for running Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom.
“I don’t consider myself a dirty player. I felt like my hands were down. It happens fast, but you hate to see a guy being taken off like that.
“I don’t even think there was a call to begin with. I feel like if the officials felt it was something dirty or really questionable, then I wouldn’t have gotten a major and tossed on the spot.”
