NHLer Nazem Kadri Opened About Growing Up In Ontario & Being The First Muslim Stanley Cup Winner

There’s no bigger win for a hockey player than lifting the Stanley Cup, but for Ontario native Nazem Kadri, his moment wasn’t just about himself or his teammates.

Kadri became the first Muslim hockey player to hoist the trophy when he won it with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022, and he says the best part was getting to share it with his community in London, Ontario later that summer.

"To be able to share it with the people that helped you get to that point is special," Kadri, who now plays for the Calgary Flames, told Narcity during a recent interview.

Kadri was born in London and played part of his junior hockey career in the city before he was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2009. He’d go on to play with the Leafs for a decade before being traded to Colorado, where he became a crucial piece of their Stanley Cup-winning season in 2022.

Each Stanley Cup winner gets one day to spend with the trophy, and Kadri used his day to take the Cup to London mosque — a place where he found plenty of support and people to "pave the way" as a kid growing up.

“I’m very appreciative and privileged and honoured to be the first-ever Muslim to bring the Stanley Cup to the mosque,” Kadri said in London at the time, per CTV London.

That mosque moment was just one part of a much larger effort from Kadri, who has spent much of his career trying to promote diversity in and around hockey.

The 33-year-old's latest effort has been to team up with Ritz for its new All Flavours Welcome campaign, which is all about celebrating the unique food that people grow up with in different cultures.

As part of that campaign, Kadri visited a school in Toronto to chat with several students of colour about their personal “lunchbox moment.” The kids each talked about the feeling of opening up a packed lunch in class and facing “what’s that?” questions from others who didn't recognize their ethnic foods.

Kadri also shared his own lunchbox moment during the visit, revealing that he once got some awkward questions about a dish from his grandma called warak enab, a Lebanese snack of rice wrapped in grape leaves.

"They look a bit different, but they're lethal," Kadri says in the video while showing off the dish. "You could eat 100 of them."

“They were great kids and had some fantastic stories. It’s always nice hearing those types of stories from a different perspective,” Kadri told Narcity.

He added that hockey really helped him fit in and make friends as a boy of Lebanese descent in London, and he’s still so thankful for all that the sport's given him.

That’s also why he’s so eager to help others find a place in hockey, especially as a member of the Hockey Diversity Alliance. The group is a collection of current and former NHL players who are trying to promote diversity in the sport at all levels.

“We’ve been doing a lot of things behind the scenes to eradicate that racism, especially in youth hockey, which has been a bit of an issue in the past,” Kadri said. “That’s our main goal, and just to give BIPOC kids an opportunity to get in the game of hockey because we realize how great it is.”

Kadri added that he “loves” to see NHL players openly pushing for more inclusion in the sport, even when it means they could get in trouble for it. For instance, one player recently defied a league rule by playing with rainbow Pride tape on his stick, while another wore an Indigenous-themed goalie mask in defiance of another rule.

“Some things are bigger than the game,” said Kadri. “It’s always great to see people stand up for what they believe in, no matter if it’s going to take some backlash.”

As for fitting in, Kadri says he's settled in nicely with the Calgary Flames, with whom he signed a seven-year deal after his Cup win in Colorado.

"It's been great," Kadri said of Calgary. He said his favourite part about the city is the people who are "all so respectful and polite," and he's already got a few favourite restaurants such as Shokunin, Vintage Chophouse and Caesar's Steakhouse.

He added that he loves the mountains around Calgary, and Alberta in general is "very beautiful and exciting."

However, Kadri said still appreciates a chance to get away now and then, and he told Narcity he hopes to take his wife and daughter somewhere warmer during the upcoming NHL All-Star break.

"I think we're going to try to go somewhere sunny and just peel off to Mexico," he said. "Maybe play a few rounds of golf, rest the body and come back for a big, big second half."

Kadri and the Calgary Flames are currently fighting for a playoff spot in the NHL's Western Conference, and you can follow him by tuning into Flames games for the remainder of the season. You can also take a behind-the-scenes look at his life and his time with the Cup by checking out his Instagram page.

In terms of the Ritz campaign, Kadri isn't the only Canadian athlete to put his name behind it. Tennis star Leylah Fernandez also shared her own "lunchbox moment" experiences with kids in a separate video from late last year.