DENVER– Adrienne Ruth wanted to let Nazem Kadri know that she and all Colorado Avalanche fans have his back and decided to do something about it.
Ruth, an Avalanche season ticket holder, painted a sign with a personal message for the forward and printed 300 flyers that read “Stand With Naz” at her local office depot Wednesday for Game 5 against the St. Louis Blues at Ball Arena.
The signs were placed on the seats before the game, and fans held them during the 5–4 overtime loss. They were Ruth’s response to taunts and threats directed at Kadri after Game 3 of the series in St. Louis on Saturday.
In that game, Blues goalie Jordan Binnington suffered a lower body injury at 6:45 of the first period after being knocked over by teammates Calle Rosen and Kadri, who were pushing hard for a rebound.
“After everything that happened before Game 4, I was upset,” Ruth told NHL.com on Thursday. “I usually have a mark for Naz for most games, so I knew I would have something [for Game 5]and some people in the Avs community have reached out to me and been like, ‘Do you have any ideas?’”
Ruth’s personal sign read: “The ultimate measure of a person is not where one stands in moments of comfort and ease, but where one stands in times of challenge and controversy. #StandWithNaz” It’s a slight reworking of a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.
Kadri had his first Stanley Cup playoff hat trick in Game 4, a 6-3 Avalanche win on Monday.
“We take threats against our players or other club employees seriously,” NHL Assistant Commissioner Bill Daly told TSN’s Darren Dreger on Monday. “We are in contact with the St. Louis Police Department and they are implementing enhanced security procedures at both the arena and the hotel.”
The Avalanche lead Friday’s (8:00 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS) best-of-7 series 3-2 going into Game 6 in St. Louis. A win would take them to the conference finals for the first time since 2002.
Ruth, who also makes and sells avalanche-related merchandise through Etsy, said Kadri’s wife, Ashley, reached out to her and thanked her for her support.
“I got to know them. I told her, ‘I plan to do this, just so you know,'” Ruth said. “She said it was great to see.”
Ruth said the overall reaction was “phenomenal positive”.
“To quote Naz, for those who hate, there will always be haters. There will still be those who don’t agree with it, don’t understand it, or try to make it over something else, but that’s pretty meek.” she said. “I have to say, even after the devastating loss (in Game 5), I woke up with a pretty full heart. Our news cycle is full of bad things. It’s nice to see the good making up the news cycle.”