By: Brandon Rivera
Since game three in St. Louis, Blues fans have had it out for Nasem Kadri of the Colorado Avalanche after he collided with Blues goalie Jordan Binnington early in the first period which sent Binnington to the locker room with a lower body injury and likely out for the remainder of the series.
As a result, Blues fans took to social media showing their displeasure for Kadri who was suspended eight games last postseason for a hit that took place on the St. Louis Blues defenceman Justin Faulk in game two of Colorado’s sweep. Kadri was front and center of a barrage of hate posts and racists direct messages that drew the attention of the St. Louis Police Department.
To make matters worse, during Kadri’s post-game interview on Saturday night, Jordan Binnington tossed a water bottle in Kadri’s direction. While after seeing the many different angles from Kadri’s collision with Binnington it really doesn’t seem as if it were intentional, however; due to Kadri’s past indiscretions, every single move, gesture and response will be scrutinized.
Despite Kadri’s dealings with Blues fans since Saturday night, he came out in game four in St. Louis with a focus and determination Blues fans hoped their ire and name-calling would have had the opposite effect of. By the end of regulation, Kadri had recorded his first playoff hat trick sending the series back to Ball Arena with a two game lead over St. Louis.
Monday night’s game came with some drama of course, also centered around Kadri, but it was mostly out of frustration as the Blues David Perron and Pavel Buchnevich who both were obviously head hunting Kadri which later resulted in a double penalty. After Kadri’s second goal, David Perron took a swipe at Kadri’s head with his elbow, which luckily did not connect. Perron was fined $5000 for a cross-check on Kadri during the game but no mention has been made of his attempt to elbow Kadri after his second goal.
Game five is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Ball Arena. The Avs have a 3-1 lead in the series with a chance to put the Blues away and move on to the third round where they could potentially face either the Calgary Flames or the Edmonton Oilers.
In other sports the Colorado Rockies have slipped to the bottom of the National League (NL) West 9 games behind the division leading L.A. Dodgers. Colorado is no longer above .500 with two wins in their last six games.
The Rockies kicked off a three-game series with the Pirates on Monday losing 2-1. Colorado is in Pittsburgh for games two (results of the game not available at the time of this writing) and three (Wednesday, at 10:35 a.m.).
The Colorado Rapids are 8 points behind the Conference leading L.A. Football Club (FC) and have won two of their last four. The Rapids are in Nashville this weekend to face the Nashville Soccer Club (SC) and will be off for a little over two weeks before hosting the New York City FC at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on June 19th at 3 p.m.
