For the second time this month, Nazem Kadri has had to accept punishment for a transgression.
First, he ran afoul of the rules of his own team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, which resulted in a three-game ban and Brendan Shanahan stating publicly the young forward had to “grow up.”
On Wednesday, the 24-year-old Kadri received another suspension, this time from the National Hockey League. It’s a four-game suspension for a head shot on Edmonton’s Matt Fraser.
Kadri also forfeits $141,463.41 in salary because of the incident.
On Wednesday, Kadri reacted to the league’s suspension, saying he tried to avoid the hit.
“There’s not much I can do, I mean I felt I did everything I did what I could (to avoid the hit) you never want to see stuff like that happen,” said Kadri, as per the club’s website. “I hope he is alright and he gets back to (100 per cent). I think it was pretty obvious that I felt pretty bad about it after the situation.
“It’s obviously hard to deal with.
“I’m not going to sit here and whine about it. I’m going to come back to work and be professional, no matter if I’m on the sidelines, on the ice or in the dressing room.”
Related: ‘I never felt that Nazem ever listened to me,’ says former Leafs coach Wilson of Kadri