There is nothing like creating an international incident over excess testosterone. Perhaps the Canuck should have blew the Swiss a kiss. At the very least give the TSN commentator a Valium. Geesh...

Why is everyone acting like this was some sort of threat of physical harm? Surely Kadri was just signaling that the he was tired of the whole situation between them and just wanted to "cut off" discussion.

I dunno. When I'm on an international flight and I see somebody bolt for the bathroom, it makes a difference to me whether he's wearing a dish-dash and a waist-length beard, or Reeboks and a Motorhead t-shirt. Similarly, if somebody makes a throat-slashing gesture at me, I take it differently if the fellow's name is Mohammed Islam Jihad than I would if the offender were Noddy McCodfish from Meat Cove, CB.

What PC apologists like to deride as "profiling", the OCED calls making inferences on the basis of observed patterns, i.e. "inductive reasoning". To paraphrase Dennis Miller, when 19 out of 19 hijackers are from the same tiny corner of the "broad spectrum of society", and you notice that fact, it's not "racial profiling", it's "minimally observant". Put another way, if there were one-tenth as much empirical evidence for the role of carbon dioxide in driving global temperatures as there is for the role of Islam in driving global terrorism, we'd all be gleefuly putting up wind turbines and e-mailing our credit card info to Al Gore.

Or maybe he was just trying to give buddy the finger, but couldn't, because of the gloves. Context does matter. But so does history.

One could be non P.C. and ask, what does one more muslim making threats mean to anyone? But that probably would be really wrong and not funny at all. If one had have asked that, that is.

Had the referee seen it, that gesture would have drawn an "unsportsmanlike" penalty. That is what Duthie and Mackenzie were saying. What is the issue here?

Khadri's little bit of self-indulgence was selfish. He could have left his team down a man with lines juggled and team cohesion disrupted. In that game it wouldn't have mattered. Against Russia, Sweden or the USA, it would have. The TSN crew were right to comment.

Are you implying that because Cadri has muslum sounding name that this was based on some sort of radical religious belief?

Lets call it like it is: a hockey player making a poor decision because they got a cheap shot. I see it every week in the beer league. None of those guys would get their fight/cross check/bird flipping noted in the hallowed SDA.

I love your blog Kate, but this one is a big stretch.

It was a signal to Kinsella that he doesnt do that kind of thing in the hockey arena bathroom.

Not so much the gesture but the reaction to it indicates that more and more we are closer to actually treating Islam as a disease like SMALLPOX....to be exterminated.
At this point, the Spanish Inquisition is beginning to be regarded in a much differednt context.
The Islamofascists are committing a vast error....thinking that they do not risk a violent backlash from western society.

Since I have flash/javascript turned off by default, I had to enable it a bit for this video. So I read the summary a couple times before I got the video to load. Being in the US, it's a bit misleading:

Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie discusses Nazem Kadri's throat-slashing gesture and its implications.

So I'm expecting Bob & Doug Mackenzie / Jim Carr & Denis Lemieux mash up prior to watching the video...

A tempest in a teapot. Big deal out of nothing.

Nazem Kadri is a player on the Canadian National Junior hockey team.

He is there representing our nation of minor hockey players, a role model and ambassador from our nation to the nations of the world. He is to act in an appropriate manner, with the class and self restraint which is expected of him by every minor hockey boy and girl engaging in the sport of hockey. He is to play within the rules of the game which show respect to his teammates, his opponents, officials, fans and media.

He has been selected from the many other Canadian players who have demonstrated their high skill level and maturity both on and off the ice and he has now disgraced both himself, his teammates and our nation with his tantrum and total lack of respect and cowardice to a fellow hockey player.

Both the league, the team and the National Junior hockey program should pull his a** off that team, and replace him with someone who, although at a very minor skill level drop- but surely of better character, will make our country proud and redeem this very poor choices.

If Hockey Canada does not do something very serious about this, it will show just how far we have descended from the values this country has been built upon.

I am totally disgusted!!!! The puck now lays at the hands of the coaching staff and team officials to nip this at the bud for the sake of the game and make sure this young man gets some help and counseling to further shape the redeeming qualities he has in the past show to warrant his selection to this great game of hockey.

mountain, molehill.

I find hockey very repetitive and boring.

If the player had been a Dane then I'd have cause for concern. :)

he was playing against the Swiss so it's obvious he was lashing out because of the Swiss minaret ban......poor kid....his home country Lebanon in a mess because of the jews and Canada not recognizing the democratically elected government that represents it....his adopted home Canada colluding in the torturing of his eponymous fellow Muslim Omar in Gitmo....

i ask you...what kind of a welcome have we actually given this poor kid...

i think we should have a sheep slaughtered at centre ice to show we're sorry..

Nazem Kadri is a player on the Canadian National Junior hockey team. Now is the time to send them packing.

T, what are you doing out of your mommy's garden?

He should immediately be called up by the Leafs. Any more throat slashing incidents would be percieved as committing suicide.

Outside of hockey, what's the big deal? Not seeing it...

He got away with one and the one that he got away with was on film and can be commented on. Playing the Slovaks is going to be a rough and dirty show, regardless of what the "it must be a nice game" folks have to say about it.
It's hockey for God's sake. This is the way it is and always has been.

It's just lucky that he didn't eat a major for it.

It was a punk move, to be sure, but why note it here? Surely not just because of his religion? I hope this topic was just meant as a commentary on poor sportsmanship.

While Bob McKenzie is correct on the OHL penalties for such an act, a hockey player threatening another hockey player is pretty minor compared to some of the actual violence that goes on in the game.

Kadri has a bit of a reputation as a cheap player, but he isn't half the meathead Steve Downie was when he represented Canada at the World Juniors.

A little research would have shown the gesture has been banned in pro sports for a decade now.
While the article I am linking does not give a distinct event that lead to the ban, the decapitation of the ex-wife of O. J. Simpson is often cited as an event leading to the ban.

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19991124&slug=2997346

Really, is this something to discuss in the context of Islam vs Enlightenment? Of course not. This is something the Canadian coaches should deal with (since the refs didn't), nothing more.

@ Johan i Kanada

I agree with your post.

Perhaps he's just upset about the minaret ban in Switzerland? Voicing his opinion? If you read his lips, he tells the Swiss players he's "f*ing dead".

Heh, come to think of it, sounds pretty much like every Muslim in Toronto when confronted by an infidel.

I'm seeing a lot of unpleasant behavior from muslims, in amateur boxing. Huddling together, flashing secret signs, intimidation of opponents. There are a couple of hand signals, in particular, that appear to be gang related. I can't find any examples on the internet, so I guess they are, indeed, secret symbols.

There's an AB team member, a muslim convert, who's been charged with a very serious crime, who has not been suspended from competition. He's accused of trafficking 50 kg of cocaine a month, and converting powder to rock(crack). It's definitely organized crime, with a connection to Afghanistan. Several other (muslim) athletes, from the same club, have also been connected with organized crime, and one is currently serving time.

The governing association is taking a hands off approach, and the phrase "innocent, until proven guilty" seems to be the favourite answer. In the mean time, the accused is traveling with the team, and mingling with a bunch of young, impressionable athletes. At the very least, he should be benched, until the verdict is in. Amateur sport, especially boxing, doesn't need more negative publicity.

I'm with the mountain/mole hill side.

H*ll, if this had happened in an NHL game, the crowd and Don Cherry would have been screaming for more. Canadian kids are taught from the moment they strap on their first pair of skates that hockey and violence go hand in hand. That's why I have no use for the game.

And btw, Nick, @ 9:37, the line you attribute to Kate is taken directly from the video clip, straight from the talking head's mouth. What he meant by it, I have no idea, but the possibility exists that he (the talking head) was suggesting the ref may have cut Kadri some slack because he is Muslim. You know. The disease we call political correctness. Just sayin'.

And another btw, in Kadri's ancestral home, Lebanon, there are, or at least, were, a lot of Christians. They are not all rabid Islamists like Hezbollah.

Cut some slack to that mole and give a pass to a political correct extremist and allow some benefit of the doubt to a religious fanatic and turn the other cheek and, well, you will surely end up with a mountain of trouble.

Is that not the point of this post? Subversion by incremental-ism.

Let me be clearer, I don't believe this to be a racist/Muslim rant.

This has nothing to do with his skin colour or religious beliefs, but it does has a lot to say about his character.

Those players have the riot act read to them prior to all major tournaments and even from the start of their hockey seasons, especially those with cameras and video cameras capturing every nuance and gesture they make. He lost his ability to focus and keep his eyes on his own revenge. This is not a team player, but one who is self absorbed beyond words.

This will taint his hockey career,...oh wait... knowing Gary Bettman's new and improved NHL, he should fit in just dandy!

glacierman

I would agree with you there,after scoring a goal this guy went over the top celebrating.At the time I remember thinking to myself,way to ignite the opposition's passion,not too bright.

Louise at December 30, 2009 1:18 PM

You haven't a clue about what Don Cherry talks about.

He knows more about valour, team spirit and personal resolve than most. You greatly underestimate what he stands for regarding the game of hockey. Remember this is a sport which has evolved into sporting entertainment thanks to the likes of Gary Bettman and all the other NHL lackies who suck the corporate udder of that institution.

Why don't you watch Coach's Corner this Saturday and enjoy your crow pie with what he has to say.

Agreed, Glacierman. In my interpretation, Don Cherry has said that goons and fighting played an important role...protect the superstars from actions that are intended to injure.

With the efforts to get rid of the goons and fighting, those little nasty slashes and high-sticking and head shots and whatever go "unpunished"...leading to more of the same. Nasty stuff.

What Don Cherry endorses (as I interpret it) is some on-ice justice being served up to the nasty a$$holes...beat the crap out of them for the stick-work and attempted crippling of the superstars and they a$$holes will stop doing so.

The violence in the game is unavoidable. Stop one avenue of expression (fighting) and it oozes out somewhere else...usually in a way that causes more damage than just a fist fight (like head shots and knee-on-knees and checking folks head first into the boards).

He's mostly against face protection, too, because if a player is protected against sticks to the face, he's going to let his stick get up into other guys faces...and the injuries mount.

Pleese. So, because he has an Arabic name, his throat slitting gesture is proof of a domestic Islamic mindset. Pardon me is the kid actually a practicing muslim?

I guess when Phil Esposito did the same thing, though far more animated in 72, he was actually addressing the futility of Soviet adherance to socialism. C'mon.

What I see is a very talented young man who needs to get his emotions in check, a diamond in the rough I would say. A little fine tuning, and required corrective benching, given Canadian coaching, and he will be just fine.

An absolute bloody disgraceful embarrassment! -- those freaking gawd-awful green uniforms that is...

Well, as someone who played hockey for 50 years I just have to wonder what it is he did that is so offensive. Shoot, its an emotional game. This would have been nothing at all if his name wasn't muslim. I somehow doubt he was threatening death to an infidel. He was merely informing his protagonist that he was in deep s**t if he wanted to press it. Deep s**t meaning a good licking, not death.

My take only. Could be wrong of course, but I doubt it.

Okay Shamrock, let's all think pleasant thoughts, and this will all go away.

On another note, who gets to share a room with this guy? When my kids traveled with a team, a few weeks back, I just held my breath, and hoped they wouldn't get put in with a drug dealer, or a radical muslim. Not exactly what I had in mind when I made a commitment to volunteer thousands of hours, and tens of thousands of dollars to helping develop amateur athletes.

Before you jump all over me for being a bigot, I also noticed a Sikh athlete keeping a safe distance from these guys. There was also an African kid who felt uncomfortable around them. If that's a molehill, my eyesight is worse than I thought.

"Okay Shamrock, let's all think pleasant thoughts, and this will all go away."

dp, that's exactly what I want to do, enjoy the hockey, like every year, rather than consider the ramifications of the global Islamic jihad. Sorry I don't see an immature gesture links with say, some Nigerian idiot trying to destroy an airliner by blowing his nuts off.

No, I don't consider your viewpoint bigotted, maybe just a bit paranoid though.

Anyway, no big deal, IMO.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

First they infiltrate boxing and I don't say nuttin, cause that's a blood sport.
They infiltrated soccer, but what the heck, that French fella probably had a good reason to be a goon, and I'm not French
Then they infiltrate hockey and I really don't care because Don Cherry is a nitwit anyway.
Pretty soon they gonna infiltrate football, but what do I care , it's an American game and Bush/Obama is an idiot.
Eventually they will infiltrate everything, and we won't have anything to say then either.

Shamrock,

Actually he is a practicing muslim. He was given relief, from religious observance of ramadhan by his iman. I guess a Maple Leafs training camp outweighs his religion (TIC)! I do agree with your last line: "He'll be fine".

glacierman,

I don't think Louise would recognise "crow under glass"! Kadri has the potential to be a good one. His antics were the actions of a young, talented man in an emotional game. A "talkin' to" and its H2O under the bridge.

In the good old days of the NHL, the gesture was quite common, and merely meant that," next shift you better be ready to drop the gloves".

I can remember Stan Mikita making that gesture to one of the Leafs in the playoffs,early sixties, and Jimmy Roberts,Canadiens, doing same in the late sixties.

In a different age, when people were,frankly, physically tougher, the throat slashing gesture wasn't even mentioned in the sports pages next day.

We live in an era of PC outrage.

I'll take it for granted the Canadian kid meant the same as Mikita and Roberts,"you're gonna get your ass kicked next time we're on the ice together", and nothing more.

Lebanon, there are, or at least, were, a lot of Christians. They are not all rabid Islamists like Hezbollah.

Posted by: Louise at 1:18 PM

doctor George Habash lebonese

good god kristian

even beter terrorist (1972)

and the mountain molhill thing

we all know that a young lad raised in kanadar, on kanadian values will not, NOT, shoot 14 women at Poli-tech, mark lapine????

Carry: "I don't think Louise would recognise "crow under glass"!"
============================
Huh? What the heck does that mean? I'm sticking up for Kadri. He's just playing hockey as hockey is played. The refs should have called him but they didn't and the commenter, IMHO, is suggesting that political correctness was at play here.

And Don Cherry is a loud-mouthed boor, no matter what else he might be to some people. He could be reciting poetry, but his consistently belligerent tone belies a man who full of himself and puffed up with his own self-importance. And he dresses badly, too.

new is back. Same old new. Same old spelling.

DMorris,

I just read a item that indicates "you're gonna get your ass kicked next time we're on the ice together" isn't what Kadir was saying. Not being a lip reader I would have to accept that "You're f*****g dead" might have actually been the words.

Cheers.

Louise

do you kno any lebanese people????

Mark Lapine was born and raised in kanada, had a muslim father

George Habash, was the terrorist that hyjacked a passenger plane in 1972 that sat on the tarmack for quite a while, he shot an americam citizen for the reason that he was american

Dr Habash was kristian

A friend of mine, Lebanese, said that she would never marry any lebanese male, muslim or kristian, that they are all the same. They treat their wimin the same, like shiite!!!

Louise,

It was a compliment, actually. I don't think you ever have to eat a lot of "crow pie" as your comments are mostly very succinct and knowledgeable. "Under glass" in only an upscale serving vehicle.

@ 1:18pm you commented "Canadian kids are taught from the moment.......hockey and violence go hand in hand." Your impression maybe but not so.

Cheers.

oops:

** "under glass" IS only **

Very often driving around I see the vehicles displaying LTTE stickers. The most fitting epithet for their drivers is IMO 'ungrateful bastards'.
If we rounded up and deported 50 of the ROPers or LTTE for every failed or successful terrorist act, they would probably got a message to behave. Until then they are free to roam unchecked and unchallenged. PC is driving our civilization into catastrophe and the natural law which grants us freedom of self preservation should override government policy of PC silence.

My grandfather fought in WWII and he liked to say: if every Russian soldier shot one German soldier even at the cost of his life, the war would be over before it began.

I forgot where I was going with that.

It's all about threat assessment. When Mike Tyson said "I'm gonna eat your children", he didn't mean it literally. When a muslim says "you're f***ing dead", we have a huge number of recent references to real acts to consider.

I've had plenty of people tell me they're going to kill me, but only a few who I believed. A Lebanese muslim has plenty of credibility in that department.

A co-worker of mine had an altercation with some Gurkhas, in Wainwright, a number of years ago. They were strange little guys, who always dressed in green suits. My co-worker decided it would be cool to make fun of their clothes. Another co-worker warned him to stop, but he was drunk, and brave. One of the Gurkhas approached the sane guy, and asked him to speak with his friend, at which point the idiot was left to fend for himself. Once he realized he was alone, he managed to escape with his life. Even though the Gurkhas never used the words, it was understood they have a code of behaviour, which includes killing your enemy.

Louise at December 30, 2009 3:49 PM

Don Cherry is loud and flamboyant, just like his clothing, But... he has the instincts and understanding of the sport and the warrior it takes to play the game at the pinnacle on the world stage.

You are obviously not a hockey fan and I would agree that the devolution of the game is due to those who are trying to make it a kinder and gentler. It is morphing into something it was never intended to be.

Just like life, more rules, less freedom, less interest, less passion. Stick with chess if you don't like the game. Let those who play and those who have played do their thing.

GYM, yes I have known Lebanese people. Been to Lebanon, too, but that was a looooong, loooong time ago, before the civil war, when Beirut was still "the Paris of the Middle East". I think the civil war changed everything. I also think Brigitte Gabriel is a pretty cool chick.

Once a muslim, always a muslim.

Garry, I wouldn't recognize pheasant under glass either, but what does "crow under glass" mean in the context of Nazem Kadri's hand gesture and what it and the response to it may or may not mean?

BTW, my dad always liked to tell the story about when his twin brother rose to the occasion and swallowed some crow's eggs (chicks inside them and all) in order to win a package of cigarettes from him (my dad). So I suppose eating crow is a family tradition.

Oh, please - I've played pretty much every sport that doesn't involve a horse. Not just the North American ones, but cricket, rugby, soccer, every racquet sport except paddle ball, every water sport except diving and synch swimming (and frankly, I don't consider anything where they have to hold up a number afterwards a sport anyway), field hockey, field lacrosse, boxla, and, of course, golf.

No sport - NO sport - makes your blood boil like hockey. Other sports get your heart pumping, for sure, and Canadian football can certainly make you want to hit someone, but nothing makes you lose reason and set you on fire like hockey. I've seen friends - good friends - come to blows in an after-work pickup game. I've seen guys in an industrial league game start swinging sticks at each other. I've never seen a fist fight break out in a soccer game, which I think comes closest to hockey in intensity (at a soccer game is different, as brawls in the stands are standard, but that's not the players).

I'm not defending what Khadri did - it was stupid. But to read some Islamic terrororist (sic) threat into it? Come on, people, relax.

And Louise, see if you can stomach a weekend sport show's highlight reel for a shot of Taylor Hall's backhand goal last night. People swoon over figure skaters, but their routines are both choreographed for them, and they are practiced for months on end. Hall not only displayed incredible skating ability, but he had to assess the situation, react accordingly, and, oh, maneuver a puck at the end of a six foot stick before placing an absolute perfect shot off the post into the net. Backhanded. In less than 1.5 seconds. The combination of skills, vision, decision, and speed are what make hockey thrilling for me.

So when a hockey player dies after fight www.thestar.com/article/561191 why doesn't the perp go to jail?
Oh that's right it a Canadian sport! But when a man dies following a fight outside a bar and I am refering to the incident that happened outside the Town and Country motor Inn in Calgary, Alberta, where during an atercation outside the bar,the victim was struck once in the head, fell striking his head and died. His assailant although having no intention to kill the other man was found guilty by a court of law and recieved jail time.
So here we have two almost identical incidents where in one case the the death of the individual is ruled a homicide and in the other, the death is ruled accidental! Can you not see how hypocritical this is? And before you no minds tell me that fighting is part of hockey, exlpain to me how the outcome in either case is somehow different?
Hockey players seem to be above the law, and quite a few of you feel that exceptions should be made because of that! Hypocrits!

Nazem got a way with it, or at least he didn't get caught.

I did the same stuff during my high school football and Junior Football days and continued with the same antics in rugby.

Any competitive contact game is war until the whistle blows and the pints can be tipped back. I love contact sports for this very reason.

If one can't take some digs and threats than one should look into ballet, or darts.

I personally do not want to see the hearts of players ripped from their bodies.

I've seen teenagers in Iowa use that gesture during hockey games.

It had nothing to do with him being Muslim.

haha at December 30, 2009 7:54 PM

Standing outside a bar, throwing fists and other body parts at somebody else while intoxicated on any number of items is nowhere near the same as being on the ice as willing participants with referees and rules playing a violent contact sport.

Going to the bar and consuming copious amounts of imparing liquids and then going toe to toe with somebody with unmatched skill, techniques and abilities is a strawman.

I have gone to the bars for years and never been in a fight. I have been on the ice for many more years than that and have also never been in a fight. It depends on how you play the game and which battles you choose and how you choose to fight them. I have sent more than 20 players to the hospital with broken arms, legs and even cracked vertebrae in the neck. This was all done within the rules of the game, fighting is within the rules but not a part of the game that all participate in. I have many friends who have made a career out of fighting, but also those who, like me, have never had an on the ice fight.

You may not like it, but this is the game and all the whining voices are doing nothing but trying to impose your personal opinion on something you seem to be speaking about from the stands...where you belong.

Downhill skiing, luge, bobsleigh, ski jumping, freestyle skiing, snowboard half pipe, snow board-cross, ski-cross, drag racing, stock car racing, rally racing, drag boats, boxing, wrestling, mixed-martial arts, parachuting, para gliding, kite boarding, mountain climbing, ice-climbing, plane racing, downhill mountain bike, the ironman, a marathon, football, rugby, HOCKEY, many more, ect., all have risk to them and all are optional too compete in.

There are many more sports that people can play where the worst thing that can happen is your hair style being damaged. Watch them instead if you can't get over it.

Knacker at December 30, 2009 8:42 PM

Here, here!!!

But I do dread the day that bloodsport with the goal of somebody deliberately and systematically being killed is something which makes me sick to my stomach, and I will fight to the death to stop.

Being pushed to the limit of physical endurance and skill is the thrill which many love to see and would really love to participate in. Because of the cost of training, time and natural ability, most leave it to those who become masters of their disciplines. When done well, it is like a symphony to those who are appreciative of those participating.

glacierman, I don't promote violence but I do promote enthusiasm.

Hitting a guy from behind into the boards, or a player pile driving another in rugby is absolutely uncalled for but if we expect true emotion in a game we need some things left untouched.

The 2 most important games in the list above that I forgot to mention were Hurling and Aussie Rules. Who needs threats and fighting when good clean fun is fricken scary.

Knacker, once saw a high school film introducing us to Aussie Rules and one of the players got his ear ripped off, went into the clubhouse, got bandaged and then came back and finished the match.
Lost my taste for ever playing that game, glad they play it on the wrong side of the equator!!!

GYM: it seems you're deliberately misspelling, and it's looking stupid.
Christian: Christ
Easy to remember. Does NOT start with "k".

The arrogant little boy Nazam did indeed 'stick his neck out' when he made a gesture like that to a Swiss Hockey player - all Swiss men are trained soldiers. All Swiss soldiers are on standby at all times and they keep a soldiers gear at home, ready to use. Switzerland is a very safe country in which to live or visit.

Dickweeds like this are the reason I've despised team sports since I was a little kid.

I prefer climbing. The rock doesn't cheat, and gravity can't slip a jab in when the ref isn't looking. If you bust your ass its your own fault, not some GOOF with poor impulse control.

I like that.

Somebody find me a wolverine.