The BC Hockey League is apologizing to a player and his family after the home broadcaster’s color commentator made a racist comment about him during Friday night’s playoff game between the Alberni Valley Bulldogs and the Langley Rivermen
In a video of the incident shared on Twitter by the Rivermen’s communications and digital media co-ordinator, commentator Bruce MacDonald can be heard asking whether Rivermen forward Owen Kim speaks English.
The comment came after Kim was involved in a dust-up in the second period.
Play-by-play broadcaster Evan Hammond immediately said MacDonald had gone too far, and the color commentator was taken off the air.
The league issued a statement late on Friday apologizing to Kim, his family and anyone else who had heard the broadcast, and saying the BCHL has “zero tolerance for this type of behaviour.”
The statement says MacDonald has been banned from any future BCHL broadcasts.
MacDonald’s comment has been met with widespread condemnation on social media. Users have also praised Hammond and the league for their quick responses to the incident.
Radio station 93.3 The Peak, which broadcasts Alberni Valley Bulldogs games, also issued a statement apologizing to Kim and condemning the comments, calling them “extremely offensive” and “inappropriate.”
“Racism has no place in hockey,” reads the statement from Rob Bye, Vancouver Island general manager for Pattison Media Ltd.
“Racism has no place on our radio stations nor in our company.”
With files from The Canadian Press