Nazem Kadri said handshake line with Blues was congenial: “There was a lot of respect for each other.”

Nazem Kadri said that the post-series handshake line with the St. Louis Blues on Friday night at the Enterprise Center was predictably cordial.

“Handshake line was fine,” he said after the Avalanche’s Sunday practice at Ball Arena. “Most hockey players leave whatever happened on the ice on the ice and I think there was a lot of respect for each other in terms of both teams.”

Kadri, the Avs’ second-line center and Game 4 hat-trick hero, was the villain in the Blues’ eyes after his unpenalized collision with Jordan Binnington in Game 3 led to the goalie’s series-ending injury. Kadri, a Muslim, received racial online threats from Blues fans in the ensuing 48 hours and was attacked by forward David Perron in Game 4.

The NHL fined Perron $5,000 for cross-checking Kadri, the maximum under the collective bargaining agreement.

Kadri declined to disclose what he and Perron talked about in the handshake line but there was no bad blood between them.

“It’s a respect thing,” Kadri said. “It happened with a few of those guys. I appreciate the way they compete. And that’s the one thing you got to love about athletes and hockey players. For the most part, what happens on the ice stays on the ice and you respect the competitive culture and you’re in the thick of it. It’s an emotional game. It’s a passionate game and sometimes those flare out of control. But for the most part, the respect is there.”

Kadri was showered with love at Ball Arena in Game 5, where he saw a sea of positive and anti-racist signs.

“Support was overwhelming, my teammates, the fans, obviously, of Denver,” Kadri said. “Very special.”

The hate for Kadri was much less prevalent in Game 6 in St. Louis, where Colorado rallied to defeat the Blues 3-2 to win the series in six games. The Avs begin the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 at Ball Arena on Tuesday.

“They’ve calmed down, of course. You kind of just try to ignore it as much as possible,” Kadri said of racist remarks or accusations that he intentionally tried to injure Binnington. “But, you know, I want the story to calm down a little bit too. I think we need to move on and worry about what we have next.

“It was incredible seeing everybody’s response and the support was very special to me. But now, I think moving forward, we just got to leave it in the past and focus on our goals.”

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