Joe Thornton discusses fight with Nazem Kadri hours before rematch

When things get heated at a Sharks game, there are a few players you expect to get extra amped and could start throwing haymakers. But you know a contest is really contentious if Joe Thornton gets into the mix. And if there’s one player who has drawn No. 19’s ire in most recent time, it’s Leafs center Nazem Kadri.

It was clear when the Sharks and Leafs first met earlier this season that the Sharks hadn’t forgotten when Kadri ripped out of chunk of Thornton’s now-retired beard in a tussle they had last season. With the Sharks in Toronto Wednesday to face the Leafs yet again, the media asked Jumbo Joe if he was still holding a grudge against Kadri.

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“No, no, not at all,” he told media in Toronto. Then added: “We’ll see what happens tonight, too. It’s a hockey game, you never know what can happen.”

While Thornton was seen exchanging some verbal unpleasantries on the ice with Kadri when the Leafs visited the Sharks on November 15. His teammates, most notably Timo Meier and Barclay Goodrow, made sure to check Kadri frequently.

Sharks bench boss Peter DeBoer, who has a history coaching Kadri, weighed in on the issue on Wednesday. “I love Naz,” he told the media. “I drafted him, we won an OHL championship together, I love him. I love how he plays.”

As far as the center’s history of roughing up future Hall of Famer Thornton? “I think with Joe Thornton, all I would say is I hope when Naz is 38 and playing reconstructed knees and had the career that Joe has had, that the next generation of player gives Naz the amount of respect he deserves and has earned. That’s a lesson.”