Photo courtesy of The Grio
New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban addressed an incident on Sunday night involving his brother and an alleged racial taunt during Saturday night’s minor-league game in Florida.
According to ESPN, the East Coast Hockey League suspended Jacksonville Icemen defenseman Jacob Panetta indefinitely following a racial taunt against Subban’s brother, Jordan Subban, a defenseman for the South Carolina Stingrays. However, the league announced that Panetta was released.
After the Devils’ 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, the 32-year-old spoke with reporters, opening up about the racist incident that occurred during the game. Earlier in the day, he posted a series of messages on social media, calling out Panetta for his actions while defending his brother.
“I didn’t sleep much,” he said, referring to Saturday night when he heard the news after the Devils defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 7-4 in Newark. “Sheer disappointment. It’s distasteful. There is no room for it in our game. I’m embarrassed because our game is better than this.”
The two minor league players engaged in a scuffle as the game headed into overtime Saturday night. According to video footage, Panetta raised two of his arms while referencing a monkey-like stance in Jordan’s direction. The 26-year-old defenseman responded to the taunt, prompting players from both teams to leave their benches and join in on the skirmish as fans cheered.
“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,” Jordan Subban tweeted.
Though both team players who participated in the fight received penalties, Jacksonville won the game 1-0 in an overtime powerplay goal. The Icemen are affiliated with the New York Rangers, and the Stingrays are an affiliate of the Washington Capitals, ESPN reported.
Stingrays team president Rob Concannon and his organization were “appalled by the incident,” he said in a statement.
“Our organization stands in support of our friend and teammate, Jordan, as well as all other players who continue to deal with racism and discrimination,” Concannon said. “This behavior is unacceptable and has to stop.”
During the press conference, P.K. called for racial change in the NHL hoping the incident would inspire others to make improvements in hockey.
“I’d rather people focus on how we can change it and make it better, so the next kid that looks like P.K. Subban or Jordan Subban doesn’t have to go through this,” he said.
“What I think about is the great people and the great things in our game that I love,” he said. “But the unfortunate thing isn’t just the incident. The unfortunate thing is how many kids deal with this every day, and it doesn’t come to light,” he added.
Jordan acknowledged Jacksonville’s tweet regarding the incident Saturday night after the game. “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.”
On Sunday afternoon, Panetta tweeted about the incident and said, “Racism has no place in this world and no place in the game we love.” Panetta said he told Jordan Subban, “You’re only tough when the refs get involved,” and then “did a tough-guy bodybuilder-like gesture toward him.” He denied the monkey gestures were racially motivated and claimed he’d made similar moves to other players during games.
“My actions toward Jordan were not because of race and were not intended as a racial gesture,” he said. “I did not contemplate at the time that it would be received as a racial gesture, and I attempted to convey this to Jordan when we were sent to the dressing room during the game.
“I see now from Jordan’s reaction that he and others certainly viewed it as a racial gesture, and that my actions have caused a great deal of anger. … I want to express to everyone, especially Jordan, that my actions were not racially motivated at all, and I sincerely apologize for the pain and suffering and anger that my actions have caused him, his family and everyone who this has hurt,” he noted.
P.K. and Jordan have another brother, Malcolm, a goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres.
“I think that the biggest thing that I want to say on behalf of our family is that we don’t need pity from anyone,” he said Sunday night. “No one felt sorry for us when we went through our experiences through our life. So we don’t expect anybody to feel sorry, and we don’t expect anybody to really understand that isn’t Black.”