This Has To Stop

You likely don't know much about Krystof Hrabik unless you're a fan of the AHL's San Jose Barracuda. The 22 year-old Czech forward played 105 games for the WHL's Tri-City Americans where he had decent numbers prior to being signed by the Barracuda, but all of that will be erased today as he'll simply be known as "that racist hockey player" after the AHL suspended Hrabik for 30 games for making a racist gesture at Tucson Roadrunners left-winger Boko Imama during a game on January 12. Honestly, 30 games is a good start when it comes to acts of racism on the ice, so kudos to the AHL for making an example out of Hrabik after investigating the matter thoroughly. But 30 games isn't enough.

Hrabik, who has already missed three Barracuda games during the course of the investigation, will not be eligible to return to the Barracuda lineup until April 3. If he should return following his suspension, the Barracuda do not play the Roadrunners following that April 3 date. It should be noted that the San Jose Barracuda immediately suspended Hrabik from all team activities beginning January 13 as the AHL announced an investigation into the matter, leading to Hrabik to miss those three Barracuda games.

The AHL, as part of the suspension issued, will provide Hrabik the opportunity to work with the NHL's Player Inclusion Committee to participate in education and training on racism and inclusion. After "an evaluation of his progress in the necessary education and training with the Player Inclusion Committee", "Hrabik may apply to AHL President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Howson for a reduction to the suspension and reinstatement after March 12, 2022" based on the AHL's statement today.

In short, If Hrabik shows real progress in his work with the NHL's Player Inclusion Committee, he can have the 30-game suspension reduced by AHL President Scott Howson. But only if he makes an effort and shows that he's willing change for the better which is the key in this entire matter.

If you're asking what prompted the AHL to hand the 30-game suspension to Hrabik, ESPN's Greg Wyshynski stated via Twitter that "Hrabik imitated a monkey's movements towards Imama, who is Black. It was spotted by the Roadrunners bench and confirmed via video of the game."

It's at this point in my article where I stop and ask the obvious question: what the bleep was Hrabik thinking?!?

If anyone asks, I will NOT post video of the incident. I will, however, post the statement from Hrabik about his punishment for his role in the incident, and I have to admit that he does sound remorseful through his words for his actions on the night of January 12. But, ultimately, his actions will speak louder than the words used here.

Again, I cannot state this enough: Hrabik's actions will unequivocally speak louder than his words in this instance, but his apology is the start needed to begin that process. His acceptance of his punishment for his actions from this point moving forward, every and single action he takes will be a reflection of the decision he made on January 12 to do the dumbest thing in his professional career at that moment. But it will not be forgotten.

Boko Imama had this to say today regarding the suspension of Hrabik and his feelings over the matter. And he honestly sounds like he's fed up in dealing with another instance of racism directed at him.

Imama is entirely right in saying that we have a long way to go in making this game more inclusive after what Hrabik did on the ice in front of his teammates, the Tucson Roadrunners, and 1025 fans in San Jose. I don't know what synapse misfires in players' heads that tells them that racism is ok, but I'm with Boko Imama in saying that I'm tired of this crap as well.

I know it will never happen, but hockey needs to stop using the "hockey is for everyone" cliché. They can talk about inclusivity and acceptance and all those words that come with butterflies and rainbows, but it's pretty clear that minorities in hockey are still being singled out for being different. Or, if we put it more bluntly, for not being white, male, and heterosexual.

I know that there are good people in hockey that are working hard to make the sport more diverse. I don't like generalizing the idea that hockey is filled with awful people, but these types of stories seem to happen frequently in leagues across the world. In knowing how frequently these situations occur, it's hard to be optimistic that real change is happening because the whole "hockey is for everyone" mantra seems hollow when you see more and more stories about racism still existing in hockey in an negatively impactful way.

If there's one thing I can take away from today's announcement, it's that a 30-game suspension for racism is a lot like 10,000 lawyers chained together at the bottom of the ocean. If you recognize the lawyer reference from the 1993 movie Philadelphia, you know the punchline to the joke is "A good start."

The only problem is that racism isn't a laughing matter.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!