Peters reportedly facing legal issues as a result of racial comments?

It's been a whirlwind of controversy in Alberta this week following allegations that Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters used racially charged language when addressing former player Akim Aliu during the 2009-10 season with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL.

In case you somehow missed out on the details of this story, you can read our account of things from earlier this week further down in this article.

In the meantime, though... it appears as if Peters' words may have got him into some legal trouble.

Check out this report from TSN's Matthew Scianti:

From @TSNScianitti: Bill Peters story continues to develop as Akim Aliu and lawyer James Bunting enter #NHLPA offices in Toronto on Wednesday - https://t.co/8WfTh8ns31 pic.twitter.com/KdjpbkRvi1
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) November 27, 2019

In case you missed, Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters has been accused of making racist remarks at former player Akim Aliu during the 2009-10 season with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL.

Check out these tweets from Aliu himself describing the situation:

Not very surprising the things we’re hearing about Babcock. Apple doesn’t fall far from the Tree, same sort of deal with his protege in YYC. Dropped the N bomb several times towards me in the dressing room in my rookie year because he didn’t like my choice of music. First one to
— Akim Aliu (@Dreamer_Aliu78) November 26, 2019

admit I rebelled against him. Wouldn’t you? And instead of remedying the situation, he wrote a letter to John McDonough and Stan Bowman to have me sent down to the ECHL. 20 year old on pace for 20 goals in his first pro year with zero PP/PK time was off to a great start in his
— Akim Aliu (@Dreamer_Aliu78) November 26, 2019

Pro career
— Akim Aliu (@Dreamer_Aliu78) November 26, 2019

Flames GM Brad Treliving informed the media that the team was aware of Aliu's allegations, but would meet with Peters before making any public announcement on the matter.

"During tonight's game I was made aware of a tweet from former player and obviously we were playing so I haven't had a chance to sit down with Bill or our people internally, to talk about this and get to the bottom of it," Treliving told reporters Monday. "I would say we take these matters very, very seriously. Until such time as we have a chance to speak about it internally, we obviously want to address you people - we're aware of it, made aware of it during the game here this evening. And like I said, I haven't had a chance to talk to Bill. I will be doing that and until such time we won't have any further comment about it but we will address it and get back to you people once we have a chance to address it internally."

Presumably that conversation has taken place already, but the team has still not issued an update on the situation. Sit tight.

UPDATE: The NHL has now issued a formal statement. Read below:

NHL statement on last night’s social media posts by Akim Aliu. pic.twitter.com/aqS2h192QG
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 26, 2019

Not going to lie... this seems like a PR stunt by the league. What can they offer up in this situation other than to appear sanctimonious if indeed Peters is outed as a racist. Surely they'll earn brownie points by getting involved in the process from the start.

In any case, it's fair to say that there's still a lot more to come in this story. Stay tuned.