{"id":265173,"date":"2025-11-06T08:32:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T08:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/265173\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T08:32:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T08:32:11","slug":"flames-nazem-kadri-soaks-in-every-moment-of-emotional-1000th-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/265173\/","title":{"rendered":"Flames’ Nazem Kadri soaks in every moment of emotional 1,000th game"},"content":{"rendered":"

CALGARY \u2014 Surrounded by his daughter and a handful of giddy nieces and nephews, Nazem Kadri<\/a>\u2019s post-game scrum was interrupted by a tiny voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do you skate so slow?\u201d Was the ask.<\/p>\n

It had come from Aya, his eight-year-old niece, who skated alongside the man of the hour as the pre-game flag bearer for his 1,000th\u00a0game celebration Wednesday.<\/p>\n

A week earlier, when asked in Toronto if she was nervous about the assignment, she shot back with an emphatic, \u201cno!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Kadri confidence \u2014 inherited, unshakeable, and apparently, generational.<\/p>\n

Brian Burke tells the story of the kid he drafted seventh\u00a0overall as a young Maple Leafs hopeful who parked in the fire lane for one practice.<\/p>\n

While Kadri shrugged it off, explaining he was late, Burke wanted to tone the youngster\u2019s swagger down a tad, sentencing him to a month of parking in the farthest spot from the rink.<\/p>\n

Kadri never parked illegally again.<\/p>\n

You get the sense he\u2019ll never put his\u00a0confidence in neutral. It\u2019s who he is.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not arrogance, it\u2019s conviction \u2014 the kind that has carried him through 16 years of NHL trials and tribulations, six suspensions, a trade he didn\u2019t want, and a 2022 Stanley Cup win that ended with a mic-drop message to his critics:\u00a0\u201cFor everyone that thought I was a liability in the playoffs, you can kiss my ass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, for a London, Ont. lad who has seen and done plenty through his 1,000-game run, you certainly get the sense his milestone celebration Wednesday night lands somewhere right near the top of his career.<\/p>\n

Flanked by a large contingent of family members who have helped keep him grounded through the ups and downs of his emotional journey, he capped a touching pre-game ceremony and silver stick presentation with a goal in a 5-1 win for the Calgary Flames<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How perfectly on brand for him to rise to the occasion.<\/p>\n

Citing his daughter\u2019s reading of the starting lineup as his favourite moment, the magic of being surrounded by those who mattered most \u2014 friends, family and teammates \u2014 topped a day he had been thinking of, and planning, for months.<\/p>\n

The kid who thought he could park anywhere he wanted has come a long way.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s definitely much more mature,\u201d said his father, Sam, beaming with pride over his little boy who is now a leader in the dressing room and the Muslim community.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis drive has always been there, but perhaps he\u2019s a little more driven. Genetically, I got stronger in my late 30s, and I think he\u2019s gonna be the same. That\u2019s why he\u2019s still producing. It\u2019s pretty cool to see and watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty rare milestone. Only 5 per cent of the NHL has done it.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one has seen Kadri\u2019s maturation and growth more intensely than his mom, Sue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey always say boys take longer to mature so, when he was in his 20’s, I would always say to him, \u2018Naz, if I could just give 10 years out of my life to get you there\u2026\u2019\u201d she began.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, on his 30th birthday we were all celebrating and singing ‘Happy Birthday’ and he turned to me and said, \u2018Mom, we did it, I\u2019m 30 now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just so proud. He\u2019s so humble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon after being\u00a0drafted in 2009, Kadri quickly became one of Toronto\u2019s most polarizing figures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Burke remembers the draft day well, telling the story for years that Sam pulled him aside and said, \u201cIf my son gives you any problems, give him a punch in the face and call me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam insists with a smile he said \u201cslap,\u201d not \u201cpunch,\u201d but the message was clear: hold him accountable.<\/p>\n

Astonishing to many is how well he\u2019s stickhandled through racism, controversy, criticism and suspensions, coming out the other side stronger and wiser.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNazem never lets anything bother him \u2014 at least he never shows it,\u201d said Mom.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just tries to go out there and show the opposite. \u2018I\u2019m just going to show everybody what I can do, and this is what I am.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Kadri\u2019s humility is matched by his fire, but gone are the days he crossed the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still emotional, but he\u2019s learned to hide it more,\u201d said Sam.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe still hates to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sure does, admits the 35-year-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really have a switch where I can turn it on or off,\u201d said Kadri.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you start keeping score it\u2019s on for me. That\u2019s always something\u00a0that has driven me and helped through my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kadri never would have believed early in his NHL days he\u2019d join 406 other NHLers to hit the 1,000-game milestone, or that he\u2019d be the only other Flame to score in his big game since Martin Gelinas turned the trick in 2003.<\/p>\n

But there he was, starting the day with a big-league gift exchange that saw Kadri give every teammate a customized Scotty Cameron putter.<\/p>\n

His teammates gave him a diamond-encrusted necklace bearing the number 1,000 and a bracelet\u00a0featuring logos of every team he\u2019s played for.<\/p>\n

They also gave him something else he\u2019s never had.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat came as a surprise to me,\u201d said Kadri of the warmup rookie treatment that came into vogue long after he made his NHL debut.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hadn\u2019t been on the ice alone like that in a long time \u2014 I think I missed my first three shots on net.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully, as he pointed out afterward, \u201ceverything went according to plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat video tribute almost made me cry, it was tough to kind of hold it together,\u201d said Kadri, sporting his sparkly new necklace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI tried to soak in every single minute\u2026 and it was incredible just to have my parents on the ice, my wife and daughter and people that have really supported me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t thank the Flames organization and the fan base and my teammates enough for such a special day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speculation swirls that Kadri could be dealt soon, but Wednesday night wasn\u2019t about that.<\/p>\n

It was about a kid from London who made it.<\/p>\n

It was about Aya skating with a flag, unafraid.<\/p>\n

It was about Sam and Sue, proud and emotional.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s about a player who\u2019s done it the hard way, with fire, flair, and family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CALGARY \u2014 Surrounded by his daughter and a handful of giddy nieces and nephews, Nazem Kadri\u2019s post-game scrum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-265173","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}