Game date book – 24.04.12

Today, Qadri is aging like a fine wine.

At 33, he's coming off the second-most productive offensive season of his NHL career, with 26 goals and 68 points to his name, with four more games to go.

He was the team's catalyst from Day 1 of the season, an emotional heartbeat among the forwards, and took it upon himself to take others like Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil under his wing and show them the ropes.

It's his way of giving back, while also pushing himself to achieve more.

“Dion (Phaneuf) always told me when I was in Toronto (it goes by fast),” Kadri laughed. “I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah. I'm living the dream here, leave me alone!' But he was certainly right, and even though I get similar responses, I try to preach that message.''

About this to Zari…

“It's pretty cool,” he said. “Anyone who's played in this league knows how tough it is… And for me to come into this league and play ONE game, let alone 900 games, is pretty special. So you get an idea of ​​what it really takes to get to that number.

“We are very proud of him and really happy for what he has achieved.

“He's done a lot for me, especially on the ice, he's taught me things. Playing with him, picking his brain and putting it out there and developing my game was huge. It was great to have that exposure and be around and I'm looking forward to playing many more games around him.”

Kadri was drafted seventh overall in 2009 and would become the 12th skater from that class to reach the milestone.

In his first 899 games — between the Leafs, Avalanche and Flames — the London, Ont., product had 269 goals, 636 points and 688 penalty minutes.

“This year, I feel like it's a little bit more of a responsibility for him to make sure he plays the right way every game,” head coach Ryan Huska said. “He was one of our consistent players, night in and night out. So, seeing him reach 900 game levels is pretty cool.

“And I think it's been an interesting trip down memory lane for him, the way he came into the league as a (-type of player).

“People used to talk about Cads a lot like they talk about Posp now. And then over the years you grow and mature and he's turned into a real complete player.”