Kadri Enters the Spotlight

By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

With injuries to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top two centers, Lebanese-Canadian ice hockey star Nazem Kadri will have a great chance to become the team’s top dog. And it’s an opportunity that he indeed relishes. “It’s a challenge and I accept any challenge that’s thrown at me,” Kadri said. “I want to be one of those (go-to) guys. What better way to show people? But it’s not just me. Everyone’s got to be ready to play. We have to rally around each other. This is where we really see what teams are made of.”

The 23-year-old Kadri signed a new two-year, $5.8 million contract in the off-season after a breakthrough 44 point season last year. Kadri’s former minor league coach, Dallas Eakins, credits Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle with bringing the best out of Nazim. “…(Carlyle) will keep his foot on the gas pedal,” Eakins said, suggesting that the Leafs coach will not allow Kadri to digress into his old bad habits.

But Kadri doesn’t selfishly think of only his own situation. His thoughts also go out to his injured teammates. “I talked to [injured center Dave Bolland] (after the game) and he was a little bummed out,” Kadri said. “Obviously, that sucks. But he knows what he has to do. Hopefully, the surgery went well. I really hope he recovers well and quickly.” But Bolland may need to recover quickly in order to reclaim his job. Because, the uber-talented Kadri just may have a stranglehold on it.