‘Sincere regret’: Hockey P.E.I. admits to mishandling racist incident at game

Hockey P.E.I. issued a statement today saying the penalty imposed on the offending player a two-game suspension was too light, and it repealed the suspension of Keegan Mitchell.

The governing body for organized hockey in Prince Edward Island has admitted to mishandling its reaction to a racist act at a hockey game last month.

Hockey P.E.I. issued a statement Wednesday saying the penalty imposed on the offending player _ a two-game suspension _ was too light, and it repealed the suspension of another player, Keegan Mitchell, who had used social media to criticize officials for their response to the racial slur.

“Hockey P.E.I. believes fundamentally that racism and discrimination of any form have no place in the game, and we acknowledge and express our sincere regret for errors that were made in our handling of the incident,” the league said in the statement.

Mitchell has said that during a Junior B game on Dec. 17, a player on the opposing Kensington Vipers directed an anti-Asian comment toward one of Mitchell’s teammates with the Sherwood Metros.

Later in the game, Mitchell confronted the offending player and slashed him on the legs, a move that earned Mitchell a two-game suspension _ the same penalty imposed on the Vipers player for uttering the slur.

Earlier this month, Mitchell was indefinitely suspended by the league for suggesting online that the Vipers player deserved a stiffer penalty, saying a two-game suspension for a racist slur was “absolutely disgraceful.”

“If Hockey P.E.I. took these scenarios as seriously as they say they do, this player would have been suspended appropriately.”

Mitchell said in a Facebook post on Jan. 5. “This pitiful suspension is making our whole community look racist.”