Nazem Kadri isn’t going to change his game just because the Boston Bruins are in town

He has been suspended five times for illegal hits in his NHL career, making him one of the league’s most notorious repeat offenders. He has been fined and/or suspended by the league and his own team for incidents such as being late to practice, making a throat slash gesture to another player and for embellishment.

The last two times he has received multiple-game suspensions, they came in the first round of the playoffs, as a Toronto Maple Leaf, against the Boston Bruins. One, for three games in 2018, for a boarding hit on Boston’s Tommy Wingels, and another for what proved to be five full games, plus the remainder of a sixth, for a Game 2 cross-check to the head of Boston’s Jake DeBrusk.

Should the Colorado Avalanche give Kadri a night off, with the Bruins in town Thursday night? Should Kadri change his game if he does play because, well, the Bruins are in town?

The answers are: No, and not a chance.

In an exclusive interview with Colorado Hockey Now Wednesday, Kadri said he doesn’t view this game differently than any other in his nine-year career. Plenty of people have cracked jokes that maybe Kadri’s season should include 80 games, but take those two games against the Bruins off.

“Honestly, I couldn’t care less about (any jokes). I’m not the type to really care too much about opinions that don’t have anything to do with me or my team,” Kadri said. “I play hard, everybody knows that. I want to be hard to play against. I’m not going to change my game at all.”

That said, Kadri knows he has a lengthy rap sheet, that it is a reality and he has to be cognizant of it.

“Obviously, you’ve got to be a little bit smarter, a little more composed,” he said. “But I’m a guy that wants to do anything for the team and sticks up for his teammates, and I think guys like that. Things get heated.”

Kadri’s most recent suspension – for the rest of the series against Boston – drew some scorn among hockey old-school types. Granted, Kadri hit DeBrusk up high with his stick, causing DeBrusk to lay prone on the ice for close to a minute. But DeBrusk had just laid a borderline hit on Toronto’s Patrick Marleau as well. Also, DeBrusk got up and skated well right after being down for a while, and he continued to play in the series.

“Not many people really focused what had happened leading up to that play, and the way the whole game went and everything – how it was officiated. But like I said, I gotta take responsibility and I have, by suffering the consequence. Now, we move on.”

Kadri has yet to get a point in either of his first two games, but he has played well. He won 10-of-16 faceoffs in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Minnesota and has a 58.1 Corsi for at even strength. He’s had a couple of golden scoring chances, but hasn’t quite found space with the puck beyond the goal line.

Now, he’s got a new linemate. At Wednesday’s practice, Kadri centered a second line with Joonas Donskoi on the left side and Andre Burakovsky on the right. With J.T. Compher out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, Tyson Jost was moved off the second line to center the third line.

“I think (ours) is a good line. Good mix of size, skill, speed, grittiness. We’ve got a little bit of everything on that line and if we generate some early chemistry I think that could lead to some offensive success,” said Kadri, who turned 29 on Sunday.

OTHER NOTES

• Looks like Mark Barberio will get his first action of the season, against Boston – although Jared Bednar said he was still unsure of his final lineup for the Bruins. But Barberio practiced Wednesday with Ryan Graves as a partner, and Graves has played the first two games so far.
• Colin Wilson will get a chance to play for the first time this season, skating on the third line with Jost and Matt Nieto.