If you thought the drama from the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche second-round series was over…think again.
Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington was asked Tuesday during the team’s season wrap-up session with the media why exactly he chucked an empty water bottle at Nazem Kadri after Game Three in the series.
He had days to formulate a coherent, reasonable response and this is what he said.
Jordan Binnington speaks on why he threw water bottle at Nazem Kadri. "I felt like it was a god-given opportunity" pic.twitter.com/Uz59d33jVI
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 31, 2022
“I went to get my knee checked out, midgame,” Binnington said. “I was coming back to the rink. The game just ended. Walking down the hallway, I couldn’t find a recycling bin on my way down the hallway. Right before I walked into the locker room, I see him kind of doing an interview there. Smiling, laughing there, and I’m there in a knee brace limping down the hallway.”
The knee brace Binnington was sporting was due to him being taken out of the game by a Kadri netfront drive that was aided by his own defenseman Calle Rosen.
I respect the hell out of Craig Berube, but you can’t just chalk this up to Kadri’s “history.” He was trying to play the puck and was bumped by Rosen into Binnington. pic.twitter.com/QTqdDdXoR7
— James Nichols (@JamesNicholsNYI) May 22, 2022
“I just felt like it was a god-given opportunity (to throw the bottle),” Binnington said. “I don’t know, I could just stay silent and go in the room or I could say something and just have him look me in the eye and understand what’s going on, something to think about. Yeah, just threw the water bottle. An empty water bottle. It landed like two feet from him. So, it is what it is there. It’s hockey and it’s a competitive game. So, that’s it.”
.@Liam_mchugh: pic.twitter.com/0FlVTGaJyn
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) May 22, 2022
Binnington missed the rest of the series with a knee sprain. Kadri scored a hat trick in the very next game, perhaps also due to a greater power, and helped the Avs eliminate the Blues in six games.
The Avs take on the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night at 8 PM ET in Game One of the Western Conference Final. Hopefully, Binnington learns how to respect others and properly recycle at home over the offseason.
Screenshot via St. Louis Blues
