Canada's Jacob Panetta suspended by ECHL, cut from team for apparent racist gesture

Warning: Content may distress some readers

The ECHL acted swiftly on Sunday, suspending defenceman Jacob Panetta indefinitely pending a hearing, for an apparent racist gesture toward opponent and fellow Canadian Jordan Subban of the South Carolina Stingrays during Saturday night's game.

Jacksonville Icemen later released Panetta, a 26-year-old from Belleville, Ont., who was in his second season with the team.

"To be clear, our core values as an ownership group include … zero tolerance for racism or any other forms of hate against any group," Icemen chief executive officer Andy Kaufmann said in a statement. "We apologize to anyone who was offended and look forward to beginning the process of healing together as one."

<a href="https://t.co/uEjbXqfsDO">pic.twitter.com/uEjbXqfsDO</a>

Video of the incident 23 seconds into overtime in the Florida city shows Panetta appearing to raise his arms toward his side while looking at Subban, also a defenceman and a Toronto native.

According to the Florida-Times Union newspaper in Jacksonville, the game report indicates the officiating crew assessed two game misconduct penalties to Panetta for continuing an altercation and for "inciting," under ECHL Rule 75.5, which applies to "obscene gestures on the ice or anywhere in the rink before, during or after the game."

After the game, Subban accused Panetta of making a monkey gesture.

His older brother P.K. Subban, an NHL defenceman with New Jersey Devils, took to Twitter to react to the incident at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.

They don’t call the east coast league the jungle because my brother and the other black players are the monkeys! Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/jacobpanetta?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jacobpanetta</a> you shouldn’t be