‘APPALLED’

East Coast Hockey League Suspends Player Indefinitely After Alleged Racist Gesture at Opponent

Pending a hearing over the alleged racist taunt, the Jacksonville Icemen have also released defenseman Jacob Panetta.

The East Coast Hockey League has suspended Jacksonville Icemen defenseman Jacob Panetta indefinitely after the player allegedly aimed racist gestures toward South Carolina Stingrays defenseman Jordan Subban on Saturday. The Icemen later announced that they would be releasing Panetta. Both the team and the league’s moves were made Sunday pending a hearing over the allegedly racist taunt. In a tweet after a Saturday night game, Subban accused Panetta of “making monkey gestures” at him after a skirmish on the ice. “So I punched him in the face multiple times,” Subban added, “and he turtles like the coward he is.” In a Sunday statement, Icemen CEO Andy Kaufmann wrote, “To be clear, our core values as an ownership group include one love and zero tolerance for racism or any other forms of hate against any group whatsoever.” Stingrays president Rob Concannon said that his team was “appalled by the incident,” and reaffirmed the organization would be standing with Subban.