The Colorado Avalanche said Sunday that forward Nazem Kadri has received threats after his inadvertent Game 3 collision that injured St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington.
“The Avalanche organization is aware of threats made toward Nazem Kadri and is working with local law enforcement to investigate,” the team said in a statement.
Kadri was going for a loose puck in the first period of Saturday’s 5-2 Colorado win in St. Louis when he and Blues defenseman Calle Rosen collided and the two of them slid hard into Binnington.
The Blues said Sunday that Binnington would miss the remainder of the second-round series with a lower-body injury. The Avalanche lead the series 2-1.
SPORTS NEWSLETTER: Sign up now to get top sports headlines delivered daily
NHL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE: Dates, times, television and results
Former NHL player Akim Aliu tweeted that he had talked with Kadri after the incident.
“Naz has been subject to so many racist attacks and threats since last night that police had to be brought in. Racist attacks like this have no place in hockey and should be investigated and reported on,” Aliu said.
Kadri has been suspended six times, including an eight-game ban for a hit on the Blues’ Justin Faulk during last season’s playoffs. He has been incident-free this season while scoring a career-best 87 points.
After Saturday’s game, Blues coach Craig Berube mentioned Kadri’s reputation when addressing the collision.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar objected.
“Reputation, it doesn’t mean anything,” he told reporters. “It’s either a legal play or it’s not. … The D and Naz are both going for the puck sitting at the top of the crease skating as hard as they can go. They’re both going after the puck the same way and they collide before they go in. Again, unfortunate.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NHL playoffs: Avalanche’s Nazem Kadri gets threats after collision
