College Hockey Won’t Discipline Boston Players For Racist Remark

The conference's investigation was inconclusive.

racist hockey
An unknown person hurled a racist remark at Vimal Sukumaran last week.(Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)
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Hockey East’s internal investigation into an unspecified racist comment allegedly hurled at a Providence player last week by Boston College won’t end in disciplinary action.

The conference said that despite the “inappropriate language” used against Providence forward Vimal Sukumaran last Friday, they can’t discipline anybody because they can’t confirm who said it, Deadspin reported.

According to Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna, there was no audio recording of what happened, but the conference was made aware of the comment by game officials who heard and reported it.

The incident happened during a 5-4 win for Providence in which Sukumaran scored the opening goal less than two minutes in.

The investigation concluded Wednesday with Hockey East’s statement that “there is not enough certainty about who made the remark to levy any discipline.”

“There is much uncertainty regarding what may or may not have been said among players during the hockey game last Friday at Providence College,” a spokesperson for BC said. “Based on the facts available to all parties, we consider the matter to be resolved.”

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