Appeals denied in P.E.I. rink racism investigation

A Hockey P.E.I. committee has denied the appeals of five Island players who were suspended for 25 games following reports that they taunted another player in a racist manner.

The players were penalized in connection with the Mark Connors case. Connors is a Black player from Halifax who says the P.E.I. players directed repeated racial slurs at him — including the N-word — during a game where he was in the net as goalie at a Charlottetown tournament in November.

"The third-party appeals committee has heard their case and have denied their appeal and upheld the original decision of the Discipline and Ethics Committee," wrote Hockey P.E.I. in a letter to the Connors on Monday.

The investigator's original report said the players admitted to "chirping" Connors while he was tending goal — but they and their parents insist there was no supporting evidence that anything of a racist nature was said that day. 

The investigator ultimately found Connor's account of events to be credible and in line with information provided by other sources.

All five of the minor hockey players from western P.E.I. involved in the incident appealed the decision.

The situation gained attention across the country and in the hockey world with former players and players such as Kevin Weekes and P.K. Subban posting support for Connors on their social media.

"It also made me realize that being a Black hockey player means having resiliency and toughness and the ability to persevere in ways others cannot," Mark Connors wrote for CBC, adding that only then did he feel Hockey P.E.I. took him seriously.  

The organization had also initiated an investigation of another incident during the tournament, this time at a hotel in which Connors said another group of