Islanders @ Leafs - Mar. 9, 7:30pm - SNO, Fan 590

[CarltonTheBear]

Maybe when looked at in isolation, sure, but I think the reason are going to be inclined to look at this as being slightly more than that is how it looks within the larger framework of the Leafs right now. Rightly or wrongly, respected media folk like Elliotte Friedman are describing the atmosphere around the current team as the worst they've ever seen. I know we're going to be quick to ascribe this to Daylight Savings but if true then that makes this a really bad time for this sort of thing to happen and feed into that fire.

Even if it was a relatively innocent mistake brought on by a bad alarm clock it still speaks to a larger issue with the team. I mean assuming that you agree that this sort of thing shouldn't happen with regularity and that unlike you or I professional Athletes have a whole host of reasons not to do this then ideally you'd want this behaviour corrected. After what we just watched on Saturday, who on the Leafs right now could sit Nazem down and have a frank discussion about the professionalism a pro hockey player should have with any real authority?

To me, Kadri's reasoning for being late doesn't make any difference (unless of course it was revealed he was saving a kitten or a puppy). DST or not, he overslept. Obviously I'm not a professional athlete, but for the past few years I've been waking up at 6:30am every weekday without fail. A couple of months ago I slept through both alarm clocks that I have set up and woke up at 8:00am. It wasn't because I didn't care about my job, it just happened. And it hasn't happened since.

You say this behaviour needs to be corrected, but can we really say that there's anything to correct? Kadri's been a professional hockey player for 5 years now and to my knowledge this is the first we've heard of him being late for anything. If there were other reports out there that the teams current atmosphere was making him try less in the gym or at practice then yes maybe it would be a cause for concern. But right now this has just been a completely on-off situation, and it's been dealt with appropriately by everyone involved. If this becomes a pattern, then sure we have a big problem.

As for your very last sentence, sure, I can definitely get behind the idea that that's a problem. But again, I just don't feel that Kadri's at the point where he really needs to have that conversation. If anything, based on his play recently, he's the guy who should be leading that talk and asking certain players where their heads are at.

 

[L K]

He messed up, he's apologized to all those involved, he's taking his punishment. That's all there really is to this story.

Maybe when looked at in isolation, sure, but I think the reason are going to be inclined to look at this as being slightly more than that is how it looks within the larger framework of the Leafs right now. Rightly or wrongly, respected media folk like Elliotte Friedman are describing the atmosphere around the current team as the worst they've ever seen. I know we're going to be quick to ascribe this to Daylight Savings but if true then that makes this a really bad time for this sort of thing to happen and feed into that fire.

Even if it was a relatively innocent mistake brought on by a bad alarm clock it still speaks to a larger issue with the team. I mean assuming that you agree that this sort of thing shouldn't happen with regularity and that unlike you or I professional Athletes have a whole host of reasons not to do this then ideally you'd want this behaviour corrected. After what we just watched on Saturday, who on the Leafs right now could sit Nazem down and have a frank discussion about the professionalism a pro hockey player should have with any real authority?

That's really my thinking on this.  I get that there are rules and there are consequences for breaking those rules.  But in some corners this is being sold as, you have some young players on the team and you need to set examples and not have this behaviour tolerated.

To me, Kadri is still one of those young kids.  He's right on the edge of being more of a veteran player now but he's still on the younger side.  You also have a team that walks all over "the rules" on a nightly basis and Kadri is one of the few guys who hasn't been doing that with regularity.

This really strikes me as something that has been a plague on this organization really since Maurice was fired.  The veterans get to walk around and piss all over the team and it's the rookies and youth who get sent messages on accountability.

 

[Kin]

To me, Kadri's reasoning for being late doesn't make any difference (unless of course it was revealed he was saving a kitten or a puppy). DST or not, he overslept. Obviously I'm not a professional athlete, but for the past few years I've been waking up at 6:30am every weekday without fail. A couple of months ago I slept through both alarm clocks that I have set up and woke up at 8:00am. It wasn't because I didn't care about my job, it just happened. And it hasn't happened since.

You say this behaviour needs to be corrected, but can we really say that there's anything to correct? Kadri's been a professional hockey player for 5 years now and to my knowledge this is the first we've heard of him being late for anything. If there were other reports out there that the teams current atmosphere was making him try less in the gym or at practice then yes maybe it would be a cause for concern. But right now this has just been a completely on-off situation, and it's been dealt with appropriately by everyone involved. If this becomes a pattern, then sure we have a big problem.

"Behaviour" is probably a too strong or misleading word there on my part. But even if we look at it as a single solitary incident I think the problem with trying to write it off as not being a big deal is that I have to guess that after the game Saturday the meeting the next day was maybe emphasized as being fairly important. Even if not I think that might have been a fair thing for Kadri to assume.

So, yeah, I've missed things because I've overslept too(and, for the record, we don't know why Kadri was late outside of what he's said) but I really think the timing here raises some questions which, again, takes us back to the larger issues on the club.

Understand, I'm not trying to make a case for how big a deal this is and how it really reflects badly on Kadri, I'm just trying to make a case for why people might be justified in reading more into it than simply a missed alarm.

 

[TML fan]

If he was going to intentionally skip the meeting, why would he show up later?

 

[cw]

He messed up, he's apologized to all those involved, he's taking his punishment. That's all there really is to this story.

Maybe when looked at in isolation, sure, but I think the reason are going to be inclined to look at this as being slightly more than that is how it looks within the larger framework of the Leafs right now. Rightly or wrongly, respected media folk like Elliotte Friedman are describing the atmosphere around the current team as the worst they've ever seen. I know we're going to be quick to ascribe this to Daylight Savings but if true then that makes this a really bad time for this sort of thing to happen and feed into that fire.

Even if it was a relatively innocent mistake brought on by a bad alarm clock it still speaks to a larger issue with the team. I mean assuming that you agree that this sort of thing shouldn't happen with regularity and that unlike you or I professional Athletes have a whole host of reasons not to do this then ideally you'd want this behaviour corrected. After what we just watched on Saturday, who on the Leafs right now could sit Nazem down and have a frank discussion about the professionalism a pro hockey player should have with any real authority?

That's really my thinking on this.  I get that there are rules and there are consequences for breaking those rules.  But in some corners this is being sold as, you have some young players on the team and you need to set examples and not have this behaviour tolerated.

To me, Kadri is still one of those young kids.  He's right on the edge of being more of a veteran player now but he's still on the younger side.  You also have a team that walks all over "the rules" on a nightly basis and Kadri is one of the few guys who hasn't been doing that with regularity.

This really strikes me as something that has been a plague on this organization really since Maurice was fired.  The veterans get to walk around and piss all over the team and it's the rookies and youth who get sent messages on accountability.

I'm not the biggest Kadri fan. Never have been. But I do not see him anywhere near the biggest culprit in this situation.

I haven't seen or heard what Friedman said yet but it seems very similar to my recent observations. It terms of team character, I think this is the worst I've ever seen on a Leafs team. The responsibility for that lies more with the veterans and leaders on this team. Until they are held accountable, this team is going nowhere.

 

[TML fan]

Maybe they'll just nuke the whole thing in the off season and start fresh. That would be ideal.

 

[Crucialness Key]

Maybe they'll just nuke the whole thing in the off season and start fresh. That would be ideal.

It's the only way to be sure.

 

[Kin]

If he was going to intentionally skip the meeting, why would he show up later?

What is that in reference to?

 

[Frank E]

If he was going to intentionally skip the meeting, why would he show up later?

What is that in reference to?

I'm pretty sure this is in reference to nobody that suggested that Kadri missed the meeting purposely.

 

[LuncheonMeat]

Yikes - Polak out for the season for hernia surgery, and an emergency call up on the way.  The Tank is full speed ahead.

 

[Highlander]

How many Leafs does it take to build a tank? Answer: All of them

 

[L K]

Yikes - Polak out for the season for hernia surgery, and an emergency call up on the way.  The Tank is full speed ahead.

I heard he didn't read all of his scouting report homework and this was just Horachek's next punishment level.

1st player to miss something - benched for a game
2nd player to miss something - forced to get their offseason surgery early
3rd player to miss something - has to keep Clarkson company

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

3rd player to miss something - has to keep Clarkson company

Clarkson was actually reached for comment about Kadri and he said that Kadri's benching was more about sending a message to the whole team.

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

On this evenings menu at the ACC.

 

[LuncheonMeat]

3rd player to miss something - has to keep Clarkson company

Clarkson was actually reached for comment about Kadri and he said that Kadri's benching was more about sending a message to the whole team.

;D

 

[TML fan]

If he was going to intentionally skip the meeting, why would he show up later?

What is that in reference to?

The idea that him missing the meeting was anything other than a screw up.

 

[TML fan]

If he was going to intentionally skip the meeting, why would he show up later?

What is that in reference to?

I'm pretty sure this is in reference to nobody that suggested that Kadri missed the meeting purposely.

Oh that's right. That's why we have two topics discussing Kadri missing a meeting...because NOBODY was reading anything into it...

 

[Kin]

\
The idea that him missing the meeting was anything other than a screw up.

Alright but there's room between "intentionally missing the meeting" and innocently sleeping through a properly set alarm.

 

[Chev-boyar-sky]

If he was going to intentionally skip the meeting, why would he show up later?

Because he really wants to play in Buffalo?

 

[Chev-boyar-sky]

\
The idea that him missing the meeting was anything other than a screw up.

Alright but there's room between "intentionally missing the meeting" and innocently sleeping through a properly set alarm.

Maybe he set it for the pm instead of the am.

I did that once when I'd been out all night partying which reminds me, missing a flight coming back from the west coast is a b$%^$.

If they're going to bench Kadri for partying, they should at least bench Lupul too  ;D