Hockey Broadcaster Let Go After Making Racist Comments on Umpire’s Heritage
Hockey culture still has a long way to go. (Getty)
A junior hockey commentator has been relieved of his duties after a vile on-air comment he made last Sunday.
The announcer, whose name was not released, had been commentating on a junior B class game Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League between the Eskasoni Junior Eagles – a team owned and operated by First Nation Chief Leroy Denny – and the Pictou County Scotians.
In the third game, the Junior Eagles were down 2-0, but the Junior Eagles came back screaming to level the game, thanks in part to the Scots taking seven penalties against Eskasoni. That parade to the penalty box, self-inflicted as it may have been, prompted the unnamed broadcaster to say, “I wonder if [the referee] has a band card.”
The xenophobic comment, which questioned whether the officer was an aborigine and was unfairly assisting the Eskasoni team, drew quick and vocal criticism, leading to an internal investigation and eventual Scots’ dismissal of the announcer.
Although the Eskasoni Junior Eagles are owned by the aforementioned Leroy Denny, the team is made up of a mix of Indigenous and non-Indigenous players and coaches, according to a report by the CBC.
Denny also spoke in more detail about the incident, calling the comments shocking.
“[I’m]discouraged and saddened that this happened because there’s really no place for it in hockey,” he told CBC. “As our team, we are always committed to inclusivity.”
The incident is just one in a list of recent events that have raised questions about hockey’s drive to be more inclusive, and whether or not enough is being done. In addition to the widespread incidents involving Ivan Provorov and the New York Rangers in relation to their respective clubs’ Pride nights, last November there was also the Jagger Joshua case and the racist epithet allegedly directed at him.
Despite the discouraging comments, Denny, whose Eskasoni club won the game on penalties, claimed his team would not let the distraction get in the way of their season.
The story goes on
“We’re just going to keep going and moving forward and hoping in the future things like this don’t happen again.”
More from Yahoo Sports
Source: ca.sports.yahoo.com
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