‘There’s always going to be stupid people’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/09/2011 (5153 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT’S ugly, it’s inexcusable and it should never happen. But racial incidents like the one Wayne Simmonds of the Philadelphia Flyers experienced Thursday in London, Ont., are part of the world in which we live.

Simmonds, one of the approximately 20 black players in the NHL, had a banana peel thrown at him from the stands as he started the shootout against the Detroit Red Wings in a preseason game Thursday at the Labatt Centre.

The banana missed Simmonds, who still managed to score — although the Flyers lost 4-3 in the shootout. The fan who targeted Simmonds was not caught.

“At first, I thought ‘I better get another shot if I miss,'” Simmonds told reporters after the game. “But I did score, so that was good.

“I’ve never had a banana thrown at me before. That’s a first for me. I guess it’s something I obviously have to deal with — being a black player playing a predominantly white sport. I’ve grown a lot playing in this league and throughout my whole life. I’m not going to dwell on that. It’s over with now.”

The Jets’ training-camp lineup features five black players: Dustin Byfuglien, Evander Kane, Johnny Oduya, Kendall McArdle and Akim Aliu.

“You don’t let those kind of things bother you,” Kane said. “I think it’s a classless act by that fan. It’s something that shouldn’t happen, but things like that still happen in the world. It’s just unfortunate. For the most part, at this level especially, (racial incidents) are pretty isolated. I think at the younger age groups and minor hockey it might happen a little more often.

“I’m sure that fan wouldn’t throw it if he was looking him right in the eye because he’d probably be pretty scared and wouldn’t want to do too much about it.”

Added Jets’ head coach Claude Noel: “I just think it’s a sad world that we live in when people start doing that stuff. That’s a reflection of something we really don’t need. C’mon, give your head a shake. That’s the only reaction I have.”

Oduya, a Swedish-born defenceman, grew up in Europe and said he has seen or been exposed to a number of racial incidents, particularly in professional soccer. But he may have also perfectly summed up the latest involving Simmonds when he said: “There’s always going to be stupid people, that’s not going to change. It doesn’t matter where you go.

“It’s unfortunate,” Oduya added. “I don’t know Simmonds, but at this point I don’t think he takes it personally. It’s something that has been done for years to try and get into players’ heads. It’s something you don’t want to see happen but, on the other hand, for me personally, it’s something that wouldn’t bother me that much.”

“I more feel sad for the guy who actually threw it more than anything else.

“It’s unfortunate what happened and I think the NHL has always been really good about taking care of things like this. At least it didn’t happen here, so that’s good.”

This isn’t a unique incident to the NHL, unfortunately. One of the more high-profile incidents occurred during the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs when Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Kevin Weekes saw a banana tossed at him on the ice, while in 1997 Washington Capitals winger Peter Worrell was called a “monkey” by Craig Berube of the Colorado Avalanche. Berube was suspended for one game.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait