CRANBERRY, Pa. -- P.O Joseph paused and gathered his thoughts for a moment after being asked about the racist incidents that took place in minor-league hockey recently.
"There's so much I would say right now but I legit can't," he said following Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's practice at the Lemieux Complex on Thursday. "I just think it's disgusting. I think that's the word I'm going to use."
Bokondji Imama, who is Black, is a friend of Joseph's and a forward currently playing in the Coyotes' system. In an AHL game on Jan. 12 in which Imama's Tuscon Road Runners were playing against the San Jose Barracuda, Imama was subjected to a racist gesture by San Jose's Krystof Hrabik, with Hrabik reportedly mimicking an ape while taunting Imama.
Enough is enough! pic.twitter.com/bETzUXEPGo
— Boko Imama (@bokojr) January 22, 2022
Upon an investigation by the AHL, Hrabik was suspended for 30 games.
Following Jan. 24 in an ECHL game between the South Carolina Stingrays and Jacksonville Icemen, South Carolina's Jordan Subban accused Jacksonville's Jacob Panetta of making "monkey gestures" at him:
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. There fixed it 👍🏾 https://t.co/JtPqpN9wwE
— Jordan Subban (@jordansubban) January 23, 2022
The Icemen released Panetta, and following an investigation the ECHL on Thursday announced that Panetta would be suspended for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. Panetta will have to go through "successful completion of a learning experience conducted in conjunction with the National Hockey League’s Player Inclusion Committee" in order to apply for reinstatement.
"Insensitive actions and gestures, regardless of intent, cannot be tolerated in our game," ECHL commissioner Ryan Crelin said in a statement. "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."
Joseph called it "incredible" that incidents like the one toward Imama would happen so close to the Bruins' jersey retirement ceremony for Willie O'Ree, the first Black player in the NHL. O'Ree's No. 22 was raised into the rafters at TD Garden on Jan. 19, 64 years to the day that he broke the NHL' color barrier.
"I feel like people don't learn around the sport," Joseph said. "That I think is more frustrating than anything, especially for hockey."
The 30-game suspension to Hrabik is the second-longest suspension in league history. The last suspension the league gave out for racism was following an incident on Jan. 22, 2020, when Brandon Manning used a racist slur toward Imama. The AHL only suspended Manning for five games for the slur.
Joseph called the 30-game suspension a "step in the good direction," but he doesn't believe it'll be effective.
"If you're ready to say comments like that, you're not ready to improve in the sport, in life. That's my personal opinion," Joseph said. "What if he comes back in 30 games? I don't think he's going to learn much in 30 games."
Joseph thinks a longer suspension or ban would be the appropriate response to racist actions like that from players. Until incidents like this are eliminated from the game, Joseph wants to keep talking about it to educate people.
"I think it's really disgusting from the player to use that type of comments," he said of Hrabik. "For me, this guy shouldn't be playing hockey anymore. He shouldn't be playing in the same league as us. He shouldn't be playing pro hockey. But I'm not making the decision, so I'm just going to stay positive through all this stuff and keep talking about it and try to reach some more people so they understand how bad these things are."
Joseph himself isn't involved with the Hockey Diversity Alliance, a group of current and former players who aim to "eradicate systemic racism and intolerance in hockey," but he said that he's close with some of the members of the group.
We stand with Jordan Subban and Boko Imama. This is another example of how hockey isn’t for everyone.
— Hockey Diversity Alliance (@TheOfficialHDA) January 23, 2022
There is no place for racism in our sport. We hold the NHL, AHL, ECHL, and other professional and minor hockey leagues accountable to make the right decision.
"We all support each other, and we're all there for each other no matter what," he said. "I think it's a smart way to just open eyes to a lot of people. I think the more they talk, the more they bring people to understand, the better the sport will be. People will accept differences in the sport and the world in general."
