Jan 27: Panetta has been suspended for the remainder of the ECHL season, which amounts to 38 games. Commissioner Ryan Crelin released the following statement:
Insensitive actions and gestures, regardless of intent, cannot be tolerated in our game. We all need to learn and grow from this incident, and remain steadfast to further educating and advancing our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion throughout our league.
Panetta will have a conditional opportunity to apply for reduction of the suspension and reinstatement after March 17, 2022, pending successful completion of a learning experience conducted in conjunction with the NHL’s Player Inclusion Committee.
Jan 23: The ECHL has announced an indefinite suspension for Jacksonville Icemen defenseman Jacob Panetta in response to racist gestures made toward South Carolina Stingrays counterpart Jordan Subban on Saturday. The final determination of Panetta’s suspension will be made following a hearing in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Panetta will find it hard to defend his racist actions in last night’s game, which were clearly caught on camera during overtime of the ECHL contest. The video was then shared all over the internet, most notably by the eldest Subban, NHL star P.K. Subban.
The AHL just recently suspended San Jose Barracuda forward Krystof Hrabik for 30 games for racist actions, though it took more than a week to make that decision. The ECHL wasted no time in taking Panetta off the ice.
Panetta is in his second pro season, both with Jacksonville, after four years at Colgate University. Subban is a former NHL prospect, drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the fourth round of the 2013 Draft. He last played on an NHL contract in 2018-19 and is in his first season playing primarily in the ECHL.
The Jacksonville Icemen, after initially stating this morning that the team would wait to take any action until a league review had concluded, announced they’ve released Panetta. Team CEO Andy Kaufmann, in the statement, pledged to “continue [their] mission of sharing our love of community and hockey.”
Do you think so should never play hockey ever again …get this S**t out of hockey and society…and Subban and other teammates handled it with class and the way it should of been handled…punch in the face …
I still don’t like S*** that happens in everyday life especially this stuff. BUT after looking at the video clearly I do believe he Panetta was doing not a monkey or ape motion because if he was he probably would of been bouncing up and down not staying solid like a muscle man…but still it would be assumed he was just the way this society is…. myself included….
The fact that these incidents are happening less than a week after O’Rees number retirement is an incredibly sad. How dumb can these guys possibly be, do they really think this is acceptable and can get away with it?
O’Rees number means nothing to these guys. He wasn’t an icon to them. He wasn’t a Gretzky or Lemieux. And let’s face it, a racist is gonna be a racist when the opportunity presents itself.
There’s no room in the game, let alone society for POS like this. A suspension is not good enough. The AHL dropped the ball. Both Panetta and Hrabik should be banned for life. This isn’t a mistake. This is who these idiots are – racists. By suspending a player for these actions you’re saying “it’s not that big a deal”. Drop the hammer on these losers.
How in the hell does this kind of s**t even happen?!!! What even goes through your head that says you know I should do this… Panetta is exactly what Subban said he is a gutless and classless coward. Absolutely abhorrent.
Dude read about Hrabik and said to himself “hmmm”. Colgate is proud, no doubt.
Here’s the thing…
If you want to get under another players’ skin, you have a lot of options. Slash him in the calves, buttend to the ribs, tell him you really like…….his mom.
If you get angry and need an outlet, you are literally allowed to punch other people in the face and only serve a five minute penalty.
If none of those available options prevent you from having a juvenile racist outburst just because your opponent happens to be black, you are a racist.
And employers have no obligation to tolerate racists.
Remember the good old days when you would just have bench clearing brawls to settle the score(s) with your opponents?
But that brings up a point. Had one of Subban’s teammates went after this clown and started pounding away at him, he would’ve been given 17 minutes in penalties, thrown out of the game and likely given a lengthy suspension. All for taking action against behavior that the league deems worthy of a lengthy suspension.
Tell me where the logic is in that?
Time to update the story that Panetta has been released. His hockey career is over due to him being a racist.
How on earth do you do this after the Hrabik decision? A-grade stupidity.
Racist morons can’t contain their hate apparently. Glad they canned that POS. No place for that crap in any sport or society.
It honestly frightens me that there are people who think that this type of behavior is OK. And there are a lot more people who think it’s OK than you or I think there is. I used to just get angry when I read stuff like this, but now I get sad too.
Luckily PK was able to take time away from defeating Lee’s army at Appomattox to address this issue post game. (If you see it, you’ll get it.)
Great article on the Athletic by Ryan S. Clark about this.
Comments not quite as great. Among others: “You’re implying that black players are somehow not equal to the other players & need to be treated differently… That’s literally racism bud.”
Evidently addressing racism is racist…
Has anyone on the ice said anything about Panetta making any statements while doing the gesture? I’m just curious because he has posted a video from the past claiming he’s made the same gesture to a white guy. I can only get the video to load for a few seconds so I haven’t actually seen it.
If he is doing something racist, screw that guy. But if there is any credibility to that claim and he wasn’t it’s beyond ridiculous that he’s been suspended and cut without much or possibly any investigation.
It seems pretty messed up that the news is running with “monkey like gesture” if the guy really has made the “body builder” (his words, not mine) gesture multiple times in the past. Again, if he hasn’t, or if others on the ice heard something said, screw that guy.
I read the statement from Panetta and I feel the same way you do. Like many I’ve rushed to condemn him, and if he was making that gesture with racist intent then he’s getting what he deserves… but if there is indeed anecdotal or direct evidence that the gesture meant something else then he has a right to be heard.
Good point. I seem to remember Milan Lucic making the arm muscle towards, IIRC, Subban during their Bruins/Habs days.
Nothing brings more joy to a lefty than to be able to preen over an incidence such as this. As if there’s anyone condoning it!
EVERTHING IS RACIST! Just ask Bubba Wallace, Jussi Smollett, Rev. Jesse and Al, B. O’Bummer, Whoppi, Oprah, BLM, or any Democrat politician.
Did everyone forget tony deangelo is still in the league?
Dekeyser burner account?
And why shouldn’t DeAngelo be in the league?
I wonder if those so eager to pronounce judgement would pass their own purity test? I tend to doubt it.