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P.E.I. hockey player suspended after criticizing league’s response to racist incident

Click to play video: 'Support grows for Halifax hockey player who experienced racism on the ice'
Support grows for Halifax hockey player who experienced racism on the ice
The support for a Halifax Hawks player who spoke out about racial slurs he says he faced at a tournament in PEI is growing. A former university hockey player says it’s sad that Mark Connors had this experience. Percy Paris says more proactive measures should have been taken long ago. Callum Smith reports. – Dec 6, 2021

A junior hockey player in Prince Edward Island who criticized officials on social media for their response to a racial slur aimed at his teammate has now been indefinitely suspended by the league.

Keegan Mitchell shared a letter he received Thursday from Hockey P.E.I. notifying him of the suspension for violating the league’s social media policy by publicly criticizing officials and Hockey P.E.I. and making reference to a player on the rival Kensington Vipers.

Mitchell, 20, says that during a Dec. 17 Junior B league game, a player on the Vipers made an anti-Asian comment toward one of Mitchell’s Sherwood Metros teammates.

Later in the game, Mitchell confronted the offending player, slashing him in the legs and earning a two-game suspension.

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Hockey P.E.I. did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but its executive director told CBC News the Vipers player received a two-game suspension for the offensive comment.

In a Jan. 5 Facebook post, Mitchell called Hockey P.E.I.’s response to the incident “disgraceful,” adding that the Vipers player’s actions deserved a stiffer penalty.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 7, 2022.

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