If it is absurd to find racism in hockey in 2022, such a reflection of society, the exemplary 30-game suspension imposed by the American League for a racist gesture against Montrealer Bokondji Imama certainly represents a step in the right way.
• Read also: Thirty game suspensions for a racist gesture
“It’s a big step forward, judges himself the former hockey player Georges Laraque, in an interview with the QMI Agency on Saturday. Finally, a league gives 30 games, it’s a new standard that has been established and it will make other professional leagues think.
Laraque, 45, was quick to show his support for the reaction Imama posted on social media.
“My wish is that people will learn from this and that one day hockey will really be for everyone,” the young player from the Tucson Roadrunners reacted on Friday evening.
“Well said bro,” noted Laraque, via his Twitter account.
“The good thing about Imama’s reaction is that it gives hope and is overall positive because of the length of the suspension, elaborated the former Edmonton Oilers player, who also played with the Montreal Canadiens between 2008 and 2010. With 30 games, there is less frustration. We feel more a form of justice and we force people to respect.”
A strong message
The leaders of the American League have indeed sent a strong message by severely punishing the Czech Krystof Hrabik, of the Barracuda of San Jose. His gesture, which has not been specified, was committed during a match played on January 12.
“LAH supports Boko Imama. It is unfair that a player can be the subject of comments or gestures based on his ethnicity, “said the circuit, when announcing the suspension.
“Enough is enough,” said Imama, a former member of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
As recently as last October, the Ukrainian Hockey League (UHL) was rather covered in ridicule when a gesture by hockey player Andriy Deniskin against African-American Jalen Smereck earned him a simple three-year suspension. matches as well as 10 additional meetings which were not to apply by accepting a fine of approximately $2,500.
“A disgrace,” Florida Panthers forward Anthony Duclair, also one of the founding members of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, said at the time. [HDA]).
A bygone era?
This time, the decision taken by the American League is much more serious.
“At one time, there were just no suspensions for racist comments or gestures,” added Laraque, who says he was mostly a victim when he was younger, long before his arrival in the NHL.
Certainly, he remembers an incident with the plague Sean Avery, but the referees had not heard the words of the player at the place of Laraque …
“It exists less than before in the National League, estimated the former hockey player. And with such an example giving 30 games of suspension, the players will think twice about it.
Hrabik, who issued a letter of apology, has already served the first three games of his suspension. Unless his sentence is reduced, which would allow him to return as of March 12 according to the evaluation of the inclusion committee, he will not be able to return to play with the Barracuda before the beginning of April. On Friday, he said he accepted the sentence and that he would not appeal it.