While the Toronto Maple Leafs were busy beating the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 Tuesday night to take a commanding 3-1 series lead, a lot of the talk on social media wasn't about the game, but what took place during an intermission. Hockey Night in Canada's Ron MacLean made a very odd comment to fellow panelist Kevin Bieksa during the second intermission that many are interpreting as homophobic.
Bieksa joked that he was the most positive guy on the panel while talking about a specific play, to which MacLean replied "You have a photo of a guy with his tarp off, you're definitely positive for something."
The comment, as you can imagine, garnered some strange looks from co-hosts Jennifer Botterill and Kelly Hrudey, who were likely wondering how they should take it. I'm not sure exactly what MacLean meant by his comment and it could have just been a failed attempt at wordplay. However, it isn't surprising to see people wondering whether this was a homophobic slur, as it's difficult to take it any other way.
UPDATE:
Back in November of 2019, as many will likely remember, MacLean's longtime co-host Don Cherry was fired for blasting immigrants on the show, with Cherry saying many don't wear a poppy on Remembrance Day. A day later, MacLean criticized Cherry, calling the comment hurtful and prejudice. Many, including Cherry, felt MacLean threw his co-host under the bus.
MacLean has yet to make any comment on what he said Tuesday night and there's been nothing from CBC or Sportsnet. However, that's likely to change if the backlash continues to pick up steam.
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