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... New Jersey Devils forward Wayne Simmonds, who has endured disgusting racial taunts throughout his hockey career, chimed in with his thoughts on the the Aliu and Peters situation.
Check it out:
UPDATE 2: Aliu has released his only statement in response to the statement that Peters released yesterday evening.
Check it out:
UPDATE: Peters has officially released a statement concerning the allegations against him.
Read below:
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman is reporting that Peters has "left the Flames organization."
Check out Friedman's comments during tonight's Sportsnet hockey coverage:
“Bill Peters is not coaching the team. He’s also not with them anymore, he has left the organization and is one his way back to Calgary. Now the Flames are in a situation where they are going to be going back to the city tonight after the game and we’re wondering if that means there could be an announcement made (of Peters’ firing) once they’re back home. And that’s kind of where we’re sitting at this particular time.”
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.
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."
In any case, it's fair to say that there's still a lot more to come in this story. Stay tuned.
