A truly unique Stanley Cup visit looms for Nazem Kadri, London
The Stanley Cup has been in a lot of unique settings over the years.
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The Stanley Cup has been in a lot of unique settings over the years.
Thanks to Nazem Kadri, it will appear Saturday at a mosque for what is believed to be the first time.
“We’ve always joked about it that if London ever got the Cup, then London Muslim Mosque would be the first mosque to host it,” said Hassan Mostafa, who sits on the mosque’s board and is a director with the hockey star’s charitable foundation.
“Especially after the (Afzaal family) trauma from last year, it would be a pretty cool event to have. That’s where it started from. We wanted to do something at the mosque and it grew from there.”
The 31-year-old Kadri will bring the Cup into the mosque for a photo shoot at the prayer hall before starting the celebration outside. The city will shut down Oxford Street in the area for speeches by community leaders Munir El-Kassem and Faisal Joseph before the parade begins at 12:05 p.m.
The route, expected to include fire trucks and the London Knights bus, will head from the mosque east on Oxford to Richmond Street and south to Victoria Park for another ceremony at 12:45 p.m.
Kadri, who signed with Calgary last week after winning it all with the Colorado Avalanche, has taken a stand against racism throughout his career, but faced it again online during the playoff series win over St. Louis.
“Where it comes out is really when people can hide behind a door or phone and spew it out,” Mostafa said. “Is it sweet for us that a minority, a Muslim kid, and a Londoner accomplished his goal? Of course. There are tons of kids that get bullied on the playground because their names are Muhammed or Ahmed, so to now have a Stanley Cup champion from their extended family and city is a huge boost for them.”
Kadri’s foundation usually raises in the range of $200,000 in a typical year, but after the Cup win, it saw a record $480,000 come through it to help a variety of local causes.
The centreman and Knights grad will most certainly feel the love from Alberta’s large Muslim community when he starts in Calgary with the Flames this fall.
“We’re excited for him, and there are a bunch of Kadris out there who are distant relatives,” Mostafa said. “There’s a real buzz in the community in Calgary that he’s coming there.”
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