Calgary Flames’ head coach Bill Peters benched during racial slur investigation
By Mary Clarke
Tweets from former NHL player Akim Aliu on Monday allege that Calgary Flames’ head coach Bill Peters directed racial slurs at the rookie during their time in the minor leagues.
Update 8:45 p.m. ET: The Flames released a statement Tuesday night stating that head coach Bill Peters will not coach Calgary’s upcoming game against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday as their investigation continues. Associate coach Geoff Ward will be acting coach for the Flames on Wednesday. Original story as follows.
The Calgary Flames are investigating claims by former NHL player Akim Aliu that the team’s current head coach Bill Peters used racial slurs towards the player while the pair were in the AHL. Aliu was a 20-year-old rookie of the 2009-10 Rockford IceHogs — the Chicago Blackhawks’ minor league affiliate — where Peters was the head coach.
Aliu did not name Peters directly, instead stating on Twitter via multiple tweets on Monday night that the coach in question was Mike Babcock’s “protege in YYC” while he was a rookie in the AHL. Babcock was Peters’ coach in college and has been a mentor to him since. Peters was also on Babcock’s Detroit Red Wings staff from 2011 to 2014
Not very surprising the things we’re hearing about Babcock. Apple doesn’t fall far from the Tree, same sort of deal with his protege in YYC. Dropped the N bomb several times towards me in the dressing room in my rookie year because he didn’t like my choice of music. First one to
— Akim Aliu (@Dreamer_Aliu78) November 26, 2019
The tweets from Aliu came about thanks to a story that broke over the weekend that former Toronto Maple Leafs’ coach Babcock played mind games with then-rookie Mitch Marner. In a story that was originally reported by the Toronto Sun, during the 2016-17 season Babcock asked Marner in confidence to list teammates from the most to least hardworking, then told a handful of the players on the list where they ranked in an effort to spark a fire under his team.
The situation reportedly left Marner — a 19-year-old rookie at the time — in tears.
Aliu, in his tweets on Monday, also accused Peters of talking to John McDonough, the president of the Blackhawks, and Stan Bowman, the Blackhawks general manager, in a move that unfairly sent him to the ECHL after he “rebelled” against the head coach.
admit I rebelled against him. Wouldn’t you? And instead of remedying the situation, he wrote a letter to John McDonough and Stan Bowman to have me sent down to the ECHL. 20 year old on pace for 20 goals in his first pro year with zero PP/PK time was off to a great start in his
— Akim Aliu (@Dreamer_Aliu78) November 26, 2019
Pro career
— Akim Aliu (@Dreamer_Aliu78) November 26, 2019
Aliu, now 30, has 245 career AHL games in his hockey career, with 55 of those coming in Rockford.
After the Flames’ 3-2 overtime loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, general manager Brad Treliving told the media that Calgary was set to investigate the claims after they were made aware of them during the game.
The NHL also published a statement about Aliu’s social media posts, stating that the alleged behavior was “repugnant and unacceptable” and that they are investigating the matter as well.
The Flames’ next game is Wednesday against the Buffalo Sabres.
Next. Bortuzzo suspended 4 games for cross-checking. dark