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.

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.

Despite being a storied franchise, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been absolutely terrible over the last decade. Though they have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967, they at least were always in contention before 2005.

Since then, they have only made the playoffs one time in the last ten years, with four different head coaches in that time span. And though Randy Carlyle led them to that sole playoff berth, he has failed to live up to previous expectations: he won a Cup in the 2006-07 season as the Anaheim Ducks’ head coach. Therefore, after four years and an average 91-78-19 record, they let him go.

On the other hand, Mike Babcock has been the golden boy of the league. The long time Red Wings head coach, has never missed a playoff during his tenure in Detroit, amassing a fantastic 458-223-105 record with 12 playoff series wins and two Presidents’ Trophies. Furthermore, he won the Stanley Cup in 2007-8 and nearly repeated the following year, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a devastating game seven.

Despite Babcock’s Red Wings playing well in the playoffs, forcing an impressive game seven against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, many analysts speculated about his departure. And though he has been fielding offers from teams like the San Jose Sharks and Buffalo Sabres, his extension discussion with Detroit’s GM Ken Holland created hope for his return.

However, a massive eight-year $50 million contract offer from Toronto forced his hand, making him by far the highest paid coach in the league.

On top of this, the Leafs have to give the Red Wings a third round pick within the next three years for stealing Babcock away. As for Detroit, speculations point towards them hiring AHL coach Jeff Blashill.