An ECHL hockey player has been suspended after he was accused of making racist gestures toward Jordan Subban.
Subban, the young brother of New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban, got into a scuffle during overtime of his South Carolina Stingrays’ game against the Jacksonville Icemen on Saturday night. He tweeted about the incident after and accused Icemen defenseman Jacob Panetta of making “monkey gestures” toward him.
More like @JPanetta12 was too much of a coward to fight me and as soon as I began to turn my back he started making monkey gestures at me so I punched him in the face multiple times and he turtled like the coward he is. There fixed it 👍🏾 https://t.co/JtPqpN9wwE
— Jordan Subban (@jordansubban) January 23, 2022
The ECHL, or East Coast Hockey League, announced on Sunday that Panetta has been suspended indefinitely pending a hearing under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
PK Subban shared a video of the fight on Twitter and called out Panetta. In the clip, you can see a referee trying to separate Jordan Subban and Panetta. It’s hard to see what gesture Panetta may have made at Subban, but you can see Subban become irate and go after Panetta at around the 18-second mark.
They don’t call the east coast league the jungle because my brother and the other black players are the monkeys! Hey @jacobpanetta you shouldn’t be so quick delete your Twitter or your Instagram account you will probably be able to play again… that’s what history says but things pic.twitter.com/8zOJ9q47pk
— P.K. Subban (@PKSubban1) January 23, 2022
The Icemen initially issued a statement on Sunday saying they were cooperating with the ECHL’s investigation and would withhold further comment. That infuriated some fans, so the Icemen put out another statement roughly an hour later revealing they have released Panetta.
— Jacksonville Icemen (@JaxIcemen) January 23, 2022
The NHL also issued a statement addressing the incident.
A statement from the National Hockey League. pic.twitter.com/1Un8AIqotF
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 23, 2022
This is not the first time Subban’s race has been a topic of conversation. A newspaper had to apologize years ago for a caption that was written on a photo of Subban.
H/T LBS reader KJD
Photo: Sep 18, 2018; Lucan, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jordan Subban (46) poses for a photo during their preseason game against the Ottawa Senators at Lucan Community Memorial Centre. The Maple Leafs beat the Senators 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
