NEWSLETTER
Over the past few days, the buzz in the hockey world has surrounded racism in the game, sparked by the incident in the ECHL over the weekend between Jordan Subban, brother of P.K. and Malcolm, and Jacob Panetta, cousin of Andrew Shaw. The incident, which we covered in yesterday’s bullets, was a racially-targeted gesture by Panetta towards Subban that started a near-benches clearing brawl between the Jacksonville Icemen and the South Carolina Stingrays. The gesture and fight, caught on video, was shared by Jordan’s brother, New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban and has brought to the attention of the hockey world, again, the racism problems that are deeply disturbing and happen all too often in the sport.
• P.K. Subban spoke at-length last night about the incident and where the sport needs to go from here.
“I didn’t sleep much. Sheer disappointment. It’s distasteful. There is no room for it in our game. I’m embarrassed because our game is better than this.”
FULL VIDEO: https://t.co/URinkiFDIg pic.twitter.com/yBEUf5MDZY
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 24, 2022
• Devils head coach Lindy Ruff also spoke on the matter yesterday.
“What happened to P.K.’s brother, Jordan, is totally unacceptable. We as a team, as a family support P.K. and his family right now.” pic.twitter.com/5SM5JV65Dg
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 23, 2022
• What we also got yesterday was Panetta’s side of the story and an apology video.
Jacob Panetta responds. https://t.co/mjk10N7kbi
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 24, 2022
• And today, former Blackhawk Andrew Shaw came to the defense of his cousin, supporting his claim that the gesture was not racially-charged.
Love not hate! pic.twitter.com/K7pF0BD1zt
— Andrew Shaw (@shawz15er) January 24, 2022
• If you’ve seen the video, you’ve seen the gesture. It’s borderline at best. But that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. If Jordan Subban, in that moment on the ice, felt that what Panetta was doing was targeted at him because he is Black, that’s it. There’s a 100% chance that Jordan Subban has experienced previously racially-charged taunts and actions against him in his hockey career, and some probably looked and sounded exactly like what Panetta did. It’s the problem in that moment and in the greater world of hockey.
• I’ll point you to this great work from Ryan Clark of The Athletic…
This shit is getting old, and it's been that way for some time.
So please stop being shocked by the fact racism continues to exist in hockey. https://t.co/uZ3ND9OpI2
— Ryan S. Clark (@ryan_s_clark) January 23, 2022
• Racism has no place in the game or in society. Right now, the #HockeyIsForEveryone is a farce that the NHL wants you to believe, but the world of hockey continues to show you is not true. As former Blackhawks player Akim Aliu puts it, there’s still so much work to be done before hockey is truly for everyone, so the hashtag needs a change…
Can we STOP saying Hockey is for everyone. I know that’s the NHL’s mantra & it’s what they want you to believe, but as we continue to witness, it’s simply not true. How about we say “Let’s Make Hockey for everyone”. Let’s admit our shortcomings & strive for something tangible.
— Akim Aliu (@Dreamer_Aliu78) January 23, 2022
• Aliu, by the way, still waiting on closure from the NHL on its investigation into the racial incidents he experienced while with the organization.
• Anyway, support diversity and inclusion in the game. It’s as simple as that.
• In Blackhawks news, it’s the mid-way point of the season with 41 games down and 41 to go. How are we only at the mid-way point? Yesterday, we reviewed my preseason predictions for this team and it was not a pleasant trip down memory lane.
Revisiting Our 2021-22 Blackhawks Season Predictions (Mid-Season Review)https://t.co/oyyjsK8nAZ
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 23, 2022
• I actually thought Toews and Dach were going to put up 60-point seasons.
• In jury news, the Blackhawks will be without Kevin Lankinen for some time after suffering a hand injury in his latest start on Saturday.
Kevin Lankinen has been placed on IR with a right hand injury. Arvid Soderblom recalled from Rockford to the active roster. #Blackhawkshttps://t.co/AETjsGciMv
— Carter Baum (@CarterBaum) January 23, 2022
• Rookie Arvid Söderblom rejoins the Blackhawks in-place of Lankinen.
• Soon, another rookie could be rejoining the Blackhawks as a report from Scott Powers says Chicago could think twice about not burning the first year of Lukas Reichel’s rookie contract.
Blackhawks May Not “Slide” Lukas Reichel’s Entry-Level Contract After All https://t.co/uPZqPlJLwH
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 24, 2022
• There’s good and bad on both ends of the spectrum. It would be good to get Reichel into the NHL now, where he seemingly belongs, but it would then burn that first year of his deal. It would be good to get that first year of his deal over with to get to his second contract faster, but it could end up meaning the Blackhawks’ summer of 2024 could get very, very complicated.
• Unfortunately, due to COVID concerns, the Blackhawks have postponed Brent Seabrook’s legacy night.
An update on Brent Seabrook’s legacy night pic.twitter.com/NP2Maa5zaQ
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 24, 2022
• In rumor news, could the Blackhawks be going back to the European free agent market?
Blackhawks Expected To Pursue Top KHL Free Agent Andrei Kuzmenkohttps://t.co/3xhOFFnM0M pic.twitter.com/um8JIefB5D
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 24, 2022
• Andrei Kuzmenko is second in the KHL in scoring this season and was named to Russia’s 2022 Winter Olympics roster as a reserve player. Oh yeah, the Olympic rosters will allow reserve players.
New rules today from IIHF. 25 players plus 6 extra can travel to Beijing. All eligible to play if injury or Covid become a factor. In essence the Olympics will provide teams with a taxi squad.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) January 24, 2022
• We should find out who will be with Team Canada tomorrow morning…
Canada's men's Olympic hockey roster is coming out at 11:00 AM ET tomorrow morning.
— Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisTHN) January 24, 2022
• Potentially on that list will be the top draft prospect in the 2022 NHL Draft class: Shane Wright. He has 35 points in 28 games, including an UNREAL goal last night to continue his current four-game point-streak.
Shane Wright (@shane_wright51) gets on the board! 🔥
The No. 1 ranked #NHLDraft prospect with a no-look between the legs goal to give him his 7th goal in seven games at Tribute Community Centre, giving the @KingstonFronts a 1-0 lead in Oshawa 📽️ pic.twitter.com/Fs3oW1SmTA
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) January 24, 2022
• H-HOW?
• Tonight will be a historic night in the NHL as Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle will be playing in his 964th-consecutive game, matching the all-time NHL record set by Doug Jarvis 35 years ago.
Some said it was unbreakable. Doug Jarvis is surprised it took 35 years.
Jarvis is happy for #Flyers Keith Yandle, who can match one of hockey’s celebrated records tonight: 964 consecutive games played.
The #NHL’s Ironman passes the torch @DailyFaceoff:https://t.co/70CcoQT3b3
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 24, 2022
• Speaking of records, last night’s Bills-Chiefs game was bonkers.
Tonight Josh Allen & Patrick Mahomes both:
-passed for 300+ yards
-passed for 3+ TD
-completed 70% of their passes
-had 0 INT
-rushed for 65+ yards
-led their team in rushingNo other QB in NFL history has accomplished all of those feats in a game (regular season or postseason)
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) January 24, 2022
• More on that in today’s Bears Bullets…
Re-Visiting the OT Rules, Are the Coaches Actually Good or Just Trendy? And Other Bears Bulletshttps://t.co/3yR6fZzKz8 pic.twitter.com/NCB58BzCrU
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) January 24, 2022
• That will do it for today. Hope you all enjoy your Monday!
• We will see you tonight for Blackhawks-Avalanche at 8:00 p.m. CT.
