Florida Panthers Owner Suspended by NHL After Calling Opposing Fan a ’51st State Anti-Semite Loser’ in Social Media Meltdown
Marta Lavandier/AP
The NHL on Tuesday suspended Florida Panthers minority owner Doug Cifu for a series of posts he made during a social media meltdown.
The Panthers on Sunday took on the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series. That night, Cifu got into it with a Leafs fan on X. As pointed out by ESPN, the exchange quickly went off the rails when the talk pivoted to the war in Gaza and President Donald Trump’s comments about making Canada the 51st state of the U.S.
The report continued:
The offending messages came in an exchange on X with a Maple Leafs supporter with the handle “Dr. Grizzo” on May 11, the night of the Panthers’ Game 4 victory to even their series with Toronto. The series has featured several high hits by Florida players on Leafs skaters as well as a collision between Florida center Sam Bennett and Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz’s head that contributed to Stolarz leaving their series in Game 1.
Dr. Grizzo wrote, “Hey, what’s worse, using headshots to win a series or using starvation as a weapon to win a war?”
On X, Cifu’s feed contained messages of support for Israel and had five Israeli flags in his bio, along with the statement “all tweets mine.”
Cifu responded to that message with, “Actually being a whiny dope anti-semite is clearly worse. Loser.”
Dr. Grizzo responded: “Not approving of using starvation as a weapon makes me a bigot?” before adding comments about Cifu’s stock market prowess and political leanings.
That prompted Cifu to write, “Eat s— 51st state anti-semite loser. Israel now and forever. Until ever last Hamas rat is eliminated.”
The next day, Cifu made his X account private before deactivating his feed.
In a statement obtained by The Toronto Sun, the NHL called Cifu’s comments “unacceptable and inappropriate.”
“As a result,” the statement continued, “Mr. Cifu has been suspended indefinitely from any involvement with the Club and the NHL. An in-person meeting will be scheduled with Mr. Cifu and the Commissioner at a date to be determined.”
