Calgary Flames General Manager Brad Treliving said this week he is looking into an allegation that head coach Bill Peters used a racial slur ten years ago.
The former player who accused Peters is Akim Aliu, a Nigerian-born player that Peters coached from 2008-10 on the Rockford Ice Hogs, a minor league team affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks and that plays in the American Hockey League.
Aliu claims that Peters and him did not get along because of the coach’s distaste in his music. Aliu tweeted on Monday that the protege of former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock had “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.”
Aliu also said he was the “first to rebel” against Peters because of his alleged use of the racial slur. The Flames are looking into this because Babcock was Peters’ coach in college.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.
According to Aliu, he was having a very good season that year for a 20-year-old and was on pace to score 20 goals. He claims Peters called two Chicago Blackhawks executives who were trying to get him demoted.
“Instead of remedying the situation he wrote a letter to John McDonough and Stan Bowman to have me sent down to the ECHL,” Aliu wrote of Peters.
IN MEMORIAM: SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019
Aliu was ultimately sent to the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL during the 2009-10 season. Aliu, who is originally from Africa, was raised in Canada and Ukraine. Later in his career, he ended up playing seven games in two seasons with the Flames.
“We’re aware of the tweet from former player Akim Aliu. Obviously we’re playing so I haven’t had the chance to sit down with Bill or our people internally to talk about this and get to the bottom of it. We take these matters very, very seriously, ” said Treliving. The Flames said they would address the issue after they had an opportunity to discuss it internally.
Wide receiver Diontae Johnson is reportedly settling in well with the Baltimore Ravens after the…
Aaron Judge seemed to flip the script on his disastrous World Series and postseason with…
The New York Yankees' 2024 season came to a screeching halt Wednesday night when the…
The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees 7-6 in Game 5 to win…
https://youtu.be/Y69VZZt9rt4 Brad Pitt made a surprise appearance at the Mexican Grand Prix’s practice round on Oct. 26.…
Joel Embiid’s name came up twice in NBA news this week as he continues to…