ST. LOUIS — The water bottle, mostly empty, sat on the black rubber floor surfacing in the hallway between the Avalanche and Blues dressing rooms. With one flick of the wrist and a moment caught live on national TV, it had become the story of the hockey world.
Standing against a TNT backdrop for his postgame TV interview, Nazem Kadri started to answer a question about a first-period play Saturday that left Blues goalie Jordan Binnington injured. Midsentence, he looked over his shoulder as an Eternal brand water bottle hit the ground. He paused for five seconds before continuing. Then, at the end of his answer, he explained his silence.
“I’m not sure if he just threw a water bottle at me,” he said, then laughed.
Kadri meant Binnington. And according to multiple people who saw the exchange that followed Colorado’s 5-2 win in Game 3, the throw did in fact come from the Blues goaltender, who might miss multiple weeks with a possible knee sprain, per The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford.
Binnington’s injury came less than seven minutes into the game. The play started when Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen flew down the ice and flung a wrist shot on net. Binnington got in front of the puck but allowed a rebound. The rubber disk sat just in front of the crease, and Kadri bolted for it, colliding with Blues defenseman Calle Rosen. The two tumbled into Binnington, with Rosen making first contact, and all three players went sprawling into the net.
It was hard to tell if Kadri would have or could have avoided contact if not for Rosen, though he said after the game that “I don’t think I would have hit him at all” if the defenseman — whom the Avalanche once acquired with Kadri in a deal for Tyson Barrie — hadn’t been there.
“I just saw a loose puck,” Kadri said after the Avalanche win, which gave them a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven second-round series. “It was kind of just sitting behind him, and I just tried to poke it with my stick. I think their defenseman kind of collided with me and pushed me into (Binnington).”
Jordan Binnington was replaced in goal by Ville Husso after being injured on this play.
Binnington tested out his legs in hopes of staying in the game, but he eventually left with the St. Louis trainer, giving way to backup Ville Husso, who allowed four goals and took the loss. And though Kadri wasn’t assessed with a penalty, the St. Louis crowd took exception to the play, booing him every time he touched the puck for the rest of the game.
That only seemed to fuel the center. He tipped in a Cale Makar slapshot to put the Avalanche up in the second period, going down to a knee and punching the air in celebration. Then, later in the period, he made a long pass to Lehkonen along the boards, setting up an odd-man rush. The Finn beat Husso with a wrist shot and immediately pointed to Kadri as the Colorado players gathered for a post-goal huddle.
“When you get the whole arena booing you, you up your game for sure,” Logan O’Connor said. “That was nice to see him have a great game tonight.”
The win showed Kadri at his most effective: playing with an edge, making skilled plays and occasionally agitating, as when he and Jordan Kyrou got tangled up and he skated away with the 24-year-old’s stick. But Kadri didn’t cross a line, at least in the eyes of the Avalanche and the officials.
That hasn’t always been the case in the postseason. He served two playoff suspensions while with the Maple Leafs, then another with the Avalanche in 2021 after a high hit on St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk. Kadri sat out the final two games in the first round last year, then all six second-round matchups against Vegas.
The Blues clearly haven’t forgotten about the Faulk hit, and St. Louis coach Craig Berube didn’t hesitate to link it to Binnington’s injury Saturday.
“Look at Kadri’s reputation,” he said. “That’s all I’ve got to say.”
When Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, who had just informed reporters that Samuel Girard would be out for the season with a broken sternum, heard about Berube’s comments, he looked frustrated.
“It’s either a legal play or it’s not,” the coach said. “Both guys go in there, they’re both going after the puck the same way, and they collide before they go in. Again, unfortunate, the same as Girard for me. That’s a legal play and it’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”
The Binnington injury and the water bottle throw are bullet points on a long list of Kadri’s history with the Blues over the past 12 months. He fought Brayden Schenn and Faulk in the first and second regular-season matchups of the season to answer the bell for his playoff hit on Faulk. In their second game of the season, back in October, Binnington swung his stick at Kadri’s head.
Jordan Binnington shot the puck at Darcy Kuemper then swung his stick at Nazem Kadri. ???? pic.twitter.com/mL8LZhwooO
Is there anything personal going on between them? Not in Kadri’s eyes.
“I’m just going out there to try to win and compete, and if people take that personally that’s on them,” he said. “For me, what happens on the ice kind of stays on the ice. I’m a competitor. I want to win.”
That’s what he did Saturday, leaving behind a frustrated Blues team and a mostly empty water bottle on the floor.
Key moments
• Early in the game, Girard skated behind his own net to grab a puck. Ivan Barbashev followed and drove himself into Girard’s shoulder, sending the defenseman flying into the glass head first. His face appeared to slide along the boards before the back of his head landed on the ice. With blood on his face, Girard had to be helped skating off and was taken to a hospital.
The play left Girard with a broken sternum. He will miss the rest of the playoffs.
“You know, I didn’t love it seeing it live,” Bednar said. “Looking back on it … I thought it was a legal check, to be honest with you. He kind of goes in on his head side, but he got a lot of body there. He was turned the wrong way, and he went in awkward. It was a heavy check. Unfortunate, but to be honest, I think it was a legal check.”
• Darcy Kuemper allowed a bad rebound, leading to Ryan O’Reilly’s second-period goal to cut the Avalanche lead to 3-2. But he also made a big right-pad stop on Robert Thomas, who had a partial breakaway early in the third. That kept the score tied.
• Ville Husso started to come off the ice for an extra attacker with time winding down in the third, then Mikko Rantanen stole the puck from Scott Perunovich. He got it to Nathan MacKinnon, who suddenly had a two-on-one with Gabriel Landeskog. With Husso scrambling to get back, MacKinnon got the puck to Landeskog, who shot into an empty net. That made the score 4-2 and all but eliminated the chances of a Blues comeback.
• Bednar scratched O’Connor for the first two games of the series, but he inserted him for Nico Sturm on Saturday. The move paid dividends during a first-period penalty kill.
As Josh Manson, who committed a holding penalty, came out of the box, teammate Darren Helm flipped him the puck high in the air. Manson snagged it at the blue line as he headed into the offensive zone. He passed the puck across the slot to a charging O’Connor, who beat Husso’s left pad to score. Berube considered challenging for offsides but decided against it. And just like that, the only lead St. Louis held all night was gone.
Said O’Connor: “It was definitely awesome getting that one after sitting out the last couple games.”
(Photo of Nazem Kadri and Nathan MacKinnon celebrating a goal: Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
