Zach Whitecloud tears up when discussing insensitive joke about his name

In case you missed it last night, ESPN broadcaster John Anderson made a bit of a joke when calling the highlights between the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers, saying that Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud has a name that's "great if you're a toilet paper."

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Lame Dad joke aside... it appears that this joke landed kind of hard on Whitecloud himself.

Whitecloud, of course, is a proud member of the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in Manitoba, having been raised on Nation lands where several of his friends and family share similar a similar naming convention. Personally, I think 'Whitecloud' is a bad ass name and beats the Hell out of any plain old English sounding last name I've ever heard. Unfortunately though for clowns like Anderson, they feel it's necessary to poke fun at things that haven't yet been normalized.

To his credit though Anderson apologized for the insensitive joke and had a conversation with Whitecloud himself about just how hurtful silly jokes like that can be to Whitecloud and his community.

Whitecloud, very admirably I must say, addressed the entire situation with the media today and even teared up a bit at the end when saying, "it's time for everyone to learn."

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This kid has so much heart. He just made me a fan for life. 

Personally, I'm not offended by Anderson's lame joke but I'm not hear to tell people what they should and shouldn't be offended by. Whitecloud's lived experience is much different from my own and I'll defer to him on his own emotions. I think, however, that he delivered a strong message today and I'm certain that Anderson has taken Whitecloud's comments to heart. Again, a learning opportunity for all of us here and one that will make us better as a result of having gone through it.

With all that said.... let's drop the puck on Game 4 already so that we don't have to deal with 'he said, she said' stuff during what has been a fantastic playoff series!