The NHL has suspended Doug Cifu, a minority owner of the Florida Panthers, from any involvement with the team or the league following a series of offensive social media posts on Sunday night.
Cifu will have an in-person meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman at a later date.
The offensive messages were part of an exchange with a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, the Panthers’ current playoff opponent. These messages led to statements about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as a reference to Canada becoming the 51st state.
Cifu is Vice Chairman and Alternate Governor of Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, the Panthers, FLA Live Arena, and other SSE operating entities. He is the CEO of Virtu Financial, a financial technology services firm co-founded by Florida owner Vincent Viola in 2008.When consulted, the Panthers referred to a statement Cifu provided to Florida Hockey Now on Tuesday:
“Two days ago, I posted regrettable and inflammatory comments on social media. My behavior does not reflect the standards of the Florida Panthers organization and the Viola family. I sincerely apologize to everyone affected by my comments. I am committed to working with the NHL to amend my actions.”
Doug Cifu
The offensive messages were produced in an exchange on X with a Maple Leafs follower with the user “Dr. Grizzo” on May 11, the night of the Panthers’ victory in Game 4 to tie their series with Toronto.
The series has featured several hard hits from Florida players against Leafs skaters, as well as a collision between Florida center Sam Bennett and Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz, which contributed to Stolarz leaving his series in Game 1.
Dr. Grizzo wrote: “What’s worse, using head blows to win a series or using hunger as a weapon to win a war?”
In X, Cifu’s account contained messages of support for Israel and had five Israeli flags in its biography, along with the statement “all tweets are mine.”
Cifu responded to that message with: “Actually, being a crybaby antisemite is clearly worse. Loser.”
Dr. Grizzo responded: “Doesn’t not approving the use of hunger as a weapon make me a fanatic?” before adding comments about Cifu’s stock market prowess and his political leanings.
That prompted Cifu to write: “Eat shit, antisemitic loser from state 51. Israel now and forever. Until the last Hamas rat is eliminated.”
The next day, Cifu made his X account private before deactivating his feed.
The NHL was informed of the messages and suspended Cifu.
“The NHL has concluded that Mr. Cifu’s X posts were unacceptable and inappropriate,” the league said in a statement. “As a result, Mr. Cifu has been indefinitely suspended from any involvement with the Club and the NHL. An in-person meeting with Mr. Cifu and the Commissioner will be scheduled at a date to be determined.”
The Panthers are the current Stanley Cup champions and are tied 2-2 in their second-round series with Toronto. After that 2024 title, Cifu’s name is on the Stanley Cup.
