Kadri to have second appeal of 8-game ban on Friday

Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri will have his second, and final, appeal of his eight-game suspension on Friday morning via Zoom, reports 104.3 The Fan Avs Insider Adrian Dater.

Per Dater, Kadri’s meeting with “neutral discipline arbitrator” Shyam Das — who has a history of reducing suspensions in the past — will take place at 9 a.m. MDT.

Earlier this week, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman denied Kadri’s first appeal of his eight-game ban, which was handed down on May 21 by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety as the result of an illegal check to the head of Blues defenseman Justin Faulk in Game 2 of the Avs first round matchup with St. Louis.

In his ruling — which you can read here — Bettman said that even if he were to accept Kadri’s plea that he did not intend to make contact with Faulk’s head, “his actions were nonetheless reckless.”

“It is no excuse to say that Mr. Faulk was eligible to be hit. Mr. Kadri chose a poor angle of approach towards Mr. Faulk and, to make matters worse, as he delivered the check, he elevated his shoulder up and into Mr. Faulk’s head, which was not necessary to deliver the check,” Bettman wrote in his ruling. “The force used was excessive and manifested a disregard for the safety of the opposing player.”

Kadri, who was assessed a match penalty for the hit, has already served four games of his suspension — all Avs wins.

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