ECHL ANNOUNCES HUGE SUSPENSION FOR JACOB PANETTA FOLLOWING INCIDENT WITH JORDAN SUBBAN

The ECHL has made a decision in the case of a perceived racial incident between Jacob Panetta and Jordan Subban.

"The ECHL announced on Thursday that Jacksonville Icemen forward Jacob Panetta has been suspended for the remainder of the 2021-22 Season (38 games) as a result of a racial gesture during ECHL Game #474, South Carolina @ Jacksonville, on Jan. 22," said the league in statement.

Panetta is not a member of the Icemen any longer. The team cut ties with him after this incident.

"Mr. Panetta will have a conditional opportunity to apply to the ECHL for a reduction of the suspension and reinstatement after March 17, 2022, pending successful completion of a learning experience conducted in conjunction with the National Hockey League's Player Inclusion Committee," the statement continued.

Panetta has denied any racial motivation behind his actions, insisting that he was doing a "tough guy" gesture towards Subban and not mimicking a monkey. Subban has not said anything about it since the night it happened, when he called out Panetta on Twitter by saying he was too much of a coward to fight him.

ECHL announces suspensionhttps://t.co/1UHaxrCrYT— ECHL (@ECHL) January 27, 2022

More like @JPanetta12 was too much of a coward to fight me and as soon as I began to turn my back he started making monkey gestures at me so I punched him in the face multiple times and he turtled like the coward he is. There fixed it 👍🏾 https://t.co/JtPqpN9wwE— Jordan Subban (@jordansubban) January 23, 2022

They don't call the east coast league the jungle because my brother and the other black players are the monkeys! Hey @jacobpanetta you shouldn't be so quick delete your Twitter or your Instagram account you will probably be able to play again that's what history says but things pic.twitter.com/8zOJ9q47pk— P.K. Subban (@PKSubban1) January 23, 2022