Nazem Kadri celebrates becoming first Muslim to win ice hockey's Stanley Cup

Nazem Kadri on Thursday will join the rest of the Colorado Avalanche in celebrating their recent Stanley Cup title, but it will hold extra meaning for Kadri, who became the first Muslim to lift the trophy.

The Stanley Cup champion posted photos of himself raising hockey's most prestigious trophy with a caption that read: "Nothing left to say. World champs 2022."

Kadri, often the target of Islamophobic attacks on social media during the play-offs, scored a crucial overtime goal in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Thursday's parade, set to begin at 9.30am local time, will celebrate the Avalanche's first championship in 20 years.

Kadri, a Canadian resident of Lebanese descent, said he hopes to take his daughter Naylah to Lebanon one day so she can understand where her family came from.

A post shared by Nazem Kadri (@43kadri)

"I want to explain to her what it means to be Muslim in North America," he wrote in a Players' Tribunearticle last month. "Being a father, I see so much more in myself than I ever have before.

Kadri was drafted seventh overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2009, before the Avalanche acquired him in a 2021 trade to strengthen their championship prospects.

During the 2021-2022 Stanley Cup play-offs, he scored seven goals and recorded eight assists. He made his first play-off hat-trick in a 6-3 win against the St Louis Blues in May.

Kadri is one of two Muslims in the NHL along with Nail Yakupov, who was selected first overall in the 2012 draft by the Edmonton Oilers and plays for the Blues.

Bowen Byram of the Colorado Avalanche lifts the Stanley Cup after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game Six of the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena on June 26, 2022 in