The Colorado Avalanche organization is “aware of threats made toward Nazem Kadri” following Saturday night’s game in St. Louis, the team said in a statement Sunday. They are working with local law enforcement to investigate.
In the first period of the Avalanche’s 5-2 win Saturday, Kadri collided with Blues defenseman Calle Rosen as a puck sat in front of St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington’s crease. Kadri and Rosen fell into Binnington, and the three went sprawling into the net. Binnington suffered an injury on the play that will keep him out the remainder of the series. On-ice officials did not assess a penalty on the play, and the league did not hand out any supplementary discipline Sunday.
The Avalanche did not offer comment beyond their statement, but there were a flurry of online comments after the play, including threatening tweets, some of which were Islamophobic. Kadri is Muslim and of Lebanese descent, and he is a founding member of the Hockey Diversity Alliance.
Akim Aliu, a former NHL player and the chair of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, tweeted that he had talked to Kadri.
“Naz has been subject to so many racist attacks and threats since last night that police had to be brought in,” Aliu wrote on Twitter. “Racist attacks like this have no place in hockey and should be investigated and reported on.”
Kadri also received racist messages following a suspension in last season’s postseason, which his wife, Ashley, shared on an Instagram page made for their cat.
“(T)his happens regularly for him,” she wrote at the time.
The Avalanche hold a 2-1 series lead on the Blues, and the two teams are scheduled to play Game 4 on Monday. Kadri ranks fifth on the Avalanche with six points this postseason, and he was the team’s third-leading scorer in the regular season with a career-high 87 points.
(Photo: Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)
