Terry Frei
After the Avalanche’s Sunday practice at Ball Arena, Nazem Kadri was made available to media members for the first time since details of the threats and hateful comments he and his family received were made public last week.
His wife, Ashley, on Tuesday posted screen shots of some of the most disgusting messages on Instagram they received following Kadri’s collision with Blues goalie Jordan Binnington in Game 3 of the second-round series.
Before those disclosures, on the morning after Kadri’s Game 4 hat trick against the Blues, we only knew he had received hateful threats, but hadn’t seen the toxic examples.
As his appearance with defenseman Erik Johnson began in the media room Sunday, I asked Kadri if the disclosures had led to other countering and heartening responses and expressions of support.
I had in mind social media on top of the in-arena reaction from the fans in the sold-out Ball Arena at Game 5 against the Blues.
I added a kicker, asking if he had gotten any notable comments along those lines in the handshake line after the Avs closed out the series with a 3-2 win in Game 6 Friday night.
“I got tons of overwhelming support,” Kadri said. “Obviously, there’s always supporters. And a lot of positive people out there. Support was overwhelming from my teammates (and) the fans of Denver. It was very special.
“The handshake line was fine. I think most hockey players leave whatever happened on the ice, on the ice. I think there was a lot of respect for everyone in terms of both teams.”
It appeared that Kadri exchanged more than perfunctory handshakes and greetings with Blues David Perron, who was fined $5,000 for his cross-check on Kadri in Game 4, when the Blues bid farewell to poise and intelligence, and long-time Kadri foe Justin Faulk.
This wasn’t Kris Draper refusing to shake Claude Lemieux’s hand, and then Lemieux passing on the chance to shake Darren McCarty’s hand after the Avalanche-Red Wings Western Conference Finals in 1997.
“It’s a respect thing, it happened with a few of those guys,” Kadri said of the Blues. “I appreciate the way they competed. That’s one thing you have to love about athletes and hockey players. I think for the most part what happens on the ice, stays on the ice. You respect the competitive culture. You’re in the thick of it, it’s an emotional game, it’s a passionate game, and sometimes flares out of control. But for the most part, the respect is there.”
Kadri said the earlier support he received from Ball Arena fans at Game 5 was “overwhelming” and “incredible.” He added, “That was a special moment for me, just to see the reaction for Avs faithful and the building. It was pretty emotional for me.”
He said the negative messages “have calmed down, of course. You just try and ignore them as much as possible. I want the story to calm down a little bit, too. I think we need to move on and worry about what we have next. Of course, it was an incredible scene, everybody’s response. The support was very special to me. I think moving forward, we have to leave it in the past and focus on our goals.”
What’s ahead, of course, is the Oilers-Avalanche matchup in the Western Conference finals, beginning Tuesday night in Denver. It’s Connor McDavid vs. Nathan MacKinnon … and more.
“They’re two of the best to be playing right now,” Kadri said. “I know they’re both humble guys who are not going to try and make it about them. It’s more of a media story line kind of thing. It’s two great players leading two great teams. This is certainly going to be exciting. We can’t wait to get started.”
Kadri has 5 goals and 5 assists in the Avalanche’s 10 playoff games. So far, it’s redemption for when he was suspended for the Avalanche’s final eight playoff games last year, including the entire second round series against Vegas, for his hit on Faulk. He’s coming off a strong regular season, when he had 28 goals and 59 assists in 71 games.
The catch is that he might be in his final days with the Avalanche. He can be an unrestricted free agent this summer. His cap hit this season was $4.5 million, and he stands to get a significant raise, from the Avalanche or anyone else.
That’s all on hold.
Terry Frei ([email protected], @tfrei) is a Denver-based author and journalist. He has been named a state’s sportswriter of the year seven times in peer voting — four times in Colorado and three times in Oregon. His seven books include the novels “Olympic Affair” and “The Witch’s Season.” Among his five non-fiction works are “Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming,” “Third Down and a War to Go,” “March 1939: Before the Madness,” and “’77: Denver, the Broncos, and a Coming of Age.” He also collaborated with Adrian Dater on “Save By Roy,” was a long-time vice president of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and has covered the hockey Rockies, Avalanche and the NHL at-large. His website is www.terryfrei.com and his bio is available at www.terryfrei.com/bio.html
His Colorado Hockey Now column archive can be accessed here