Mastodon
@Philadelphia Flyers

TSN Original: Why Not Me?



On January 22, 2022 in an ECHL game, defenceman Jacob Panetta was accused of making a monkey gesture toward Jordan Subban. Remarkable to many in this day and age but sadly not an isolated incident. Former St. Mike Major Daryl Devonish knows this all to well. His negative experience during his own hockey career has driven him to make hockey a safer place for BIPOC youth. A space where Black kids can ask the question “Why Not Me?”

27 Comments

  1. As a native American stop this race $hit its pathetic. Your not ESPN or CNN keep race politics out of sport. Or go after the trans issue. Afo Canadian's had a rough 250 years, maybe talk about native American struggles for 2023 years. Fa-Q TSN unsubscribe…..

  2. "Started playing house league and the rest was history." That's what should be celebrated about hockey. That seemingly anyone regardless of who they are, can lace up a pair of skates and play the game.

    It's ridiculous that we still have to deal with racism at all in 2022. But especially in a team sport like this. I hope we continue to see love and support for each other and for the game. Let the hate die. Enough is enough. No kid should be bullied or experience racism when all they want to do is play hockey.

    Shout out to these kids that want to keep playing and eventually become leaders in the sport 🖤

  3. I won't bore you with a story, but just let me say I played hockey as a POC in Calgary, going back to the 70's. Things have gotten much better since then, thanks to people like this.
    I can't imagine what I wouldn't have done for a "Darryl" back in the day.
    Well done young man! You're making a huge difference. Keep fighting the good fight brother. 👏🏾❤

  4. Insane how quick everyone is to cancel a guy who maybe made a gesture. “Why not me?” Maybe cause you’re not talented, if you’re good, even some one with prejudice will take you. Oh but didn’t make the team, must be racism.

  5. NHL as a hole isn’t Racist. There’s always gonna be a small percentage of ignorant fools. But that’s not exclusive to hockey that goes with everything

  6. What is one of the biggest desires for coaches/managers of teams….To WIN! If you can help do that then they wont care about what your race or skin color is…People need to stop blaming every reason why something doesnt go your way on racial issues….its pathetic

  7. Racism is completely unacceptable, not only in hockey, but in all aspects in life. The experiences described in the video are incredibly disheartening, the people committing such offenses must be held accountable.

    The best way to fight racism in hockey, is by raising awareness. There is a large population of casual (and some die hard) hockey fans who, are not racist themselves, but (wrongly) believe racism is not an issue in hockey. They believe it is an exaggerated and made up issue, so they don't fight against it. It is extremely important that these fans are educated and taught why they are wrong.

    When an incident such as the Jacob Panetta one is labelled as a "disgusting racist act," what you are doing is reinforcinig that these fans' (incorrect) opinions, are in fact correct. They'll look at this and say, "this is what you mean by there's racism in hockey? This is why I don't believe you." And, to be fair, you can hardly blame them for having such a reaction.

    If Jordan Subban took offense to the gesture, that's well within his right. It is his right to express his feelings, and THEN it is Panetta's responsibility to respect those feelings and not make such a gesture again. However, given that Panetta very clearly did not intend to do something racist, it is nothing short of criminal to effectively end his hockey career, and severely damage his hopes of getting a job outside of hockey due to having the image of a racist.

    Panetta has, at every point of the process, expressed his remorse, and has said he's not only open to learning why what he did was wrong, but that he wants to learn more, that he wants to learn what could hurt someone in ways he did not intend.

    Every single person on the planet has said something or done something that they intended to mean one thing, but was interpreted as an insult. How do you respond? You apologize, you say you didn't mean to do it and you won't do it again, and then move on with your lives like mature adults. Panetta has fulfilled his end of the deal.

    I think it is beyond cowardly to continue to use him as a poster boy and to continue labelling him as a racist. Tom Wilson criticizing the gesture on twitter, then proceeding to delete every single reply posting a gif of him doing the exact same gesture (after smashing one of the leagues' top superstars' exposed head onto the ice) is hilarious and sad at the same time.

    Accept the kid's apology, and if you actually cared about ending racism, you'd use this experience to teach people such as Jacob (and myself) who did/do not see the racism in the gesture, teach us why it's racist, so that it isn't done again. But nah, that's too difficult – easier to just end the kid's life to try and prove a point.

  8. I grew up in the 80s playing two sports. Hockey and basketball. I kid you not never once did I ever experience racism both ways. I'm sure there is issues but I personally haven't seen it and I played a lot of hockey and basketball. With black and white players and I've always got along in fact I personally have never seen colour especially out on the rink and on the court.

    I see this as nothing but political theatre. If you're good enough you can make it. You just got to work for it.

    And as a fan I don't care if you're a woman I don't care if you're black green blue brown pink. I just want my team to win. And I will cheer for whoever's on the team that I cheer for.

  9. politically motivated adults use kids as propaganda minions, sad. why should this child wake up in the morning and go and shoot some political race video for a sports television company? that is the problem here.

  10. Out of all my years playing high level sports and playing with all different races I never once saw racism. The wokeness is tiresome and is actually creating division amongst society. Things like this is counterintuitive as they are singling out people based on their skin color and segregating them. “How do you stop racism? Stop talking about it.” – Morgan Freeman

  11. Interesting stuff, racism in hockey is mostly because it's always been a rich parent sport. I grew up in East Vancouver and all I wanted to do was play hockey but my parents couldn't afford it. The multiple practices per week the away game fees and requirement for constantly new equipment means the parents need to be high earners. In the last few decades more minority households have been far better off than in previous generations, which results in more minority players getting drafted. There's definitely more minorities than ever in the NHL but until it becomes as easy to access as soccer(which it never will) it will always be a sport of the have vs the have not.

  12. Hockey players in the West who are not or cannot be classified as white and accepted into whiteness. Go play in China, Japan, and Korea. It's a vibrant scene with many fans, and it's growing. White people are gonna be white people especially as the western world cannot afford white privilege as it once did. Dealing with racism, with ppl whose only cultural thing is hating and being an ass hole to you for no reason is not a flex and it never has been. The people who got Darryl to quit hockey had children, what do you think they taught them? White people don't suppress their stupid ppl, they reproduce with them, befriend them, and tolerate them. It is logical because Europeans at large are 800,000,000 ppl; with a third being Slavs, Jews, and other not-really-white white people. Moral of the story: We live in a vast world, yes work to change society; but don't change people.

Write A Comment