P.K. Subban demands change in hockey after brother Jordan says he was racially taunted
Veteran defenseman P.K. Subban didn't speak about his New Jersey Devils' 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night.
Instead, he spoke candidly about racism just one day after his younger brother, Jordan, tweeted out that an opposing player, Jacob Panetta, directed a racist gesture toward him during an ECHL game.
That incident occurred just one day after the AHL suspended Krystof Hrabik for 30 games for directing a racist gesture at player Boko Imama, who is Black.
"It keeps happening. So we can look at one incident and talk about it all we want, but tomorrow there may be another one. The next day, there may be another one," Subban told reporters.
The 32-year-old said Jordan is doing fine and noted that moving on from troubling experiences is the status quo for P.K. and his family. As part of a Black hockey family, P.K. wants to do his part to eliminate racism from the sport.
"This is life for people that look like me that have gone through the game of hockey. And that's a part of the history, whether we like it or not," Subban said. "We're trying to change that. I'm an advocate to change that. To do that, we gotta bring people together, and hopefully, this is another step in doing that."
He added, "Fortunately, (Jordan's) name was Subban on the back of the jersey, and he's got an older brother in the league who cares about him and loves him and wants to see the league move in the right direction and wants to do whatever he has to do to help the league move in the right direction."
Subban noted he has the support of fellow players, his organization, and the NHL, and he's looking forward to partaking in the league's Black History Month initiatives in February while aiming to create lasting change.
"I think that we can take this and turn it into a positive with actionable items," he said. "But we can't glaze over this and think this is just a misunderstanding. It's not."
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