Nazem Kadri brings hockey’s most sacred trophy to childhood mosque

A little more than a year ago, the Muslim community of London, Ontario, gathered outside the London Muslim Mosque to mourn the senseless killing of four of their community members, struck down by a pick-up truck, while on an evening walk.

On Saturday, they gathered again, this time for a much happier reason, to welcome ice hockey’s Stanley Cup, given to the National Hockey League’s champion team each year.

Nazem Kadri, who was born and raised in London, Ontario, became the first Muslim to hoist the cup, when his Colorado Avalanche defeated the Tampa Bay Lightening four games to two in the Stanley Cup finals in June.

It is tradition for every member of the winning team to get to spend a day with Lord Stanley’s cup.

There have been joy rides, boat rides, and trips to small towns across Canada, but Mr Kadri is believed to be the first player to take the cup, which is graced with the names of all the teams and players to have won it, to a mosque.

“I couldn't help but reflect on how the last time I was on the footsteps of the mosque with speeches was at the vigil [for the Afzaal family] and what a contrast between the two events and how important this event was to the community, which has been through so much,” said Nawaz Tahir, a community leader, who brought his two young children to the mosque to see the Stanley Cup.

For Mr Kadri, 31, it's the culmination of years of hard work and dedication. The forward, who was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs 7th overall in the 2009 entry draft, played the first nine years of his career in Toronto before being traded to the Avalanche.

The skilled forward, whose family originally comes from Lebanon, faced a rash of racist and Islamaphobic taunts on social media throughout this year’s