Dater Column: Nazem Kadri’s “Chip on my shoulder” exactly what Avs needed

EDMONTON, ALBERTA – As former Avalanche TV announcer John Kelly would have said, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Avalanche fans everywhere should be saying that right now to Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, vis a vis his decision to trade Nazem Kadri to the Avs last summer.

It was bemoaned by some in Avalanche Nation at the time, but the more savvy fans knew: the Avs needed a second-line center very badly, and they had a bargaining chip in the form of UFA-to-be-after-this-season Tyson Barrie to get one. Kadri, who played in Toronto for about a decade, was exactly the kind of player Joe Sakic knew he had to get if his team was going to become a serious playoff contender.

The Avalanche’s 3-0 victory over the Arizona Coyotes here at Rogers Place Wednesday afternoon was a real team effort, as they outshot the Coyotes 40-14, including 20-2 from the slot areas. But it was Kadri who essentially lifted his team on his shoulders and said “enough is enough” toward any Cinderella Story for the Coyotes and goalie Darcy Kuemper.

When Kadri put a backhander over the goal line with the big, imposing Kuemper sprawled on the ice, I’m pretty sure I could hear him say – and later had it confirmed with some lip-reading – “Let’s go baby.”

This was the second game of the postseason that Kadri came to the rescue at the end of a game in which it looked like the opposing goalie might steal it. The first was that goal that came with 0.1 seconds left in the round-robin, against St. Louis’ Jordan Binnington.

There was more time on the clock this time – 6:55 – but this goal was bigger. Man, this could have so easily gone the other way here, with one lucky bounce or something for the rope-a-dope Coyotes. All they want is that one mistake against you to capitalize upon, then they want to pack it in and let the goalie do the rest. They are the modern-day version of the Minnesota Wild, circa early 2000s.

It wasn’t a sigh of relief the Avs exhaled when that puck went in; it was a gusty gale. The Avs, from start to finish, were the better team. But the better team doesn’t always win in playoff hockey.

Kadri is just the kind of money player the Avs have lacked at times in recent years, which is ironic of me to say because Kadri wasn’t exactly a money player for the Toronto Maple Leafs the last two playoffs. He was not even a player most of the time, suspended TWICE for big hits against the Boston Bruins. That helped convince Dubas and Leafs management that the time might be right to move him for the puck-moving defenseman they needed more, in Barrie.

Well, now the Leafs are home watching on TV, having failed to even make the real postseason. Barrie was excoriated for some of his play in the five-game loss to Columbus, and now Toronto is probably going to lose him for nothing as a UFA.

Kadri, meanwhile, has two more years left on his contract at a reasonable price ($4.5 million). I asked him after the game whether the narrative that I’m sure will be coming in the national media – that this is a guy with something to prove, who wants to make his old team look bad, etc. etc. – is true. Always open and personable, Kadri said yes.

“I’ve got a chip on my shoulder right now. I’d say that’s accurate,” Kadri said.

Just look at what a difference Kadri made to this team, compared to last year; Last year, Carl Soderberg was basically the team’s second-line center. No disrespect to Big ‘ol Carl, but Kadri is just a better fit, a better player. Soderberg, now a Coyote, was invisible in Game 1. Kadri was there when the money was on the table, and he grabbed it. The Coyotes player who was trying to stop Kadri from getting to the rebound? Carl Soderberg.

“He was our best forward tonight,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said.

The Avs took advantage of a fairly iffy call – an interference penalty on Derek Stepan against P.E. Bellemare – and finally burned Kuemper on the power play. Cale Makar faked deeper into the middle of the ice and put a shot on Kuemper that came loose on the rebound. Kadri pounced on it like a lion to a slab of red meant and backhanded it home. Just 83 seconds later, the Avs had a 3-0 lead. Game over.

Indigestion, over. Coronary danger, over.

Kadri and the Avs still have a long way to go to really toot their own horn, to really make the Leafs and Dubas feel bad.

But this was a nice start.