Panthers owner may have his name removed from the Stanley Cup after '51st state' comments

Earlier today, the NHL announced it has suspended Florida Panthers executive Doug Cifu for his online tirade following that Panthers' Game 4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Cifu reacted to posts from a hockey fan on Twitter, telling the fan to "eat shit" and calling them a "51st state anti semite loser".

Seems a bit aggressive... not gonna lie.

“The NHL has concluded that Mr. Cifu’s X posts were unacceptable and inappropriate. As a result, Mr. Cifu has been suspended indefinitely from any involvement with the Club and the NHL,” the league said in a statement. “An in-person meeting will be scheduled with Mr. Cifu and the Commissioner at a date to be determined.”

Now there are reports that Cifu could have his name removed from the Stanley Cup for his comments.

Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about that...

Sure, what Cifu did and said was offensive and stupid. But, does it diminish his accomplishments as an NHL executive? Some of the biggest jerks in NHL history have their names on the Stanley Cup, but we don't think for a second about scratching out their name from the chalice. Frankly, I don't like the precedent that this sets, but I can be convinced otherwise.

For full context on what happened, read our earlier report published by Hockey Feed staff writer Jonathan Larrivee below.

This is not a good look for the Florida Panthers organization or the National Hockey League as a whole.

Florida Panthers owner Doug Cifu has come under fire today after a tweet he sent out in the late hours of Sunday night has caused quite a stir on social media, one that Cifu himself appears to now regret. While Cifu is not the majority owner of the Panthers, that title belongs to Vincent J. Viola, he is listed as a partner as well as Vice Chairman and Alternate Governor of the Florida Panthers on the team's official website.

It all began when Cifu was baited by a Toronto Maple Leafs fan who goes by the handle of @mrgrozz on social media platform X. It was obvious that @mrgrozz was trying to goad Cifu into lashing out and unfortunately for the Panthers owner he would eventually take the bait in a major way.

Here is a look at how the exchange between the two began:

To be fair to Cifu here there is no question that the tweets directed at him were intentionally provocative in nature, but Cifu would take things a step further when he sent out a furious tweet that would reflect poorly on any team owner in the National Hockey League.

Here is what Cifu had to say in response to the first exchange:

Regardless of what your opinion is on the geopolitics being discussed here, and believe me that is the last thing I want to get into, this is simply not a good way for an NHL owner to be conducting themselves in public. Especially not when you consider the fact that there are many players on his team that are from one of the countries being mocked in his response.

It seems Cifu himself quickly came to his senses after initially sending out this tweet as he has now completely locked down his social media account on the X platform.

No word yet on whether or not Cifu might face repercussions from the league for his conduct on social media last night. Stay tuned for more on this developing story.