Threats against Kadri being investigated

Avalanche forward subject of racist social media posts

The NHL and St. Louis police continue to investigate threats made toward Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri, the subject of racist social media posts since a collision that knocked Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington out for the rest of their playoff series.

“We take threats made to any of our players or other club personnel seriously,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press by email, adding that St. Louis police “are employing enhanced security procedures, both at the arena and in the hotel.”

The team said Sunday night that it was aware of threats against Kadri and was working with local law enforcement. Kadri collided with Binnington during Saturday night’s Game 3; later, Kadri said a Blues player threw a water bottle at him during a TV interview.

The AP verified that Twitter posts were sent to the official Avalanche team account and Kadri’s, calling him “Arab scum” and referencing terrorism. Other posts, some since deleted, included death threats. One was still up hours before Monday night’s Game 4 in St. Louis.

It wasn’t clear if other threats were made toward Kadri, the former Maple Leaf who was born in London, Ont., and is of Lebanese descent.

After Colorado’s morning skate, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said the situation was sad and a function of being in the public eye.

“Unfortunately people think they have the freedom to say and do whatever they want,” Landeskog said.

Blues winger David Perron called it unfortunate: “You don’t want to see that happen to anybody for any reason.”

Kadri is a member of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, which works to eradicate systemic racism and intolerance in hockey. The league, with input from the players, established a confidential hotline for reporting harassment, discrimination or other serious misconduct.