Talk to people around the NHL about Nazem Kadri and there’s one theme that emerges again and again. Article content

Go even further back to his junior days and you’ll hear about the same characteristic. Article content Article content

Even in the highly competitive world of professional hockey, there’s a fire that burns inside Kadri that is rare. There’s a competitiveness that not every player possesses.

It’s what stood out to Brian Burke, back when he drafted him seventh-overall in 2009 for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it’s what got Kadri to this week, when he’ll play his 1,000th NHL game when the host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.

“Even back in junior, he was a 100-point guy back in London and we saw the star potential, but the question was he was small, could he

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