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The NHL has suspended the alternate governor of the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers after he got into a fight on X with an opposing fan.
Doug Cifu, who also serves as the team’s vice chairman, quarreled with a Toronto Maple Leafs fan after the defending champs took the victory in Game 4 Sunday night. The fan responded to one of Cifu’s posts by comparing the rough play in the game to Israel’s war in Gaza, writing, “Hey whats worse, using head shots to win a series or using starvation to win a war?”
Cifu responded, “Actually being a whiny dope anti semite is clearly worse. Loser.”
The user, @mrgrozz, wrote back, “Not approving of using starvation as a weapon makes me a bigot? Got it. Get some sleep man market opens early tomorrow best of luck frontrunning robinhood traders you MAGA dick licker.”
At a later point in the exchange, Cifu posted: “Eat shit 51st state anti semite loser. Israel now and forever. Until ever last Hamas rat is eliminated.” (President Donald Trump has suggested or referred to Canada as the 51st state of the U.S. several times during his presidency, which has been met with backlash from the Canadian government.)
Cifu’s account later turned private and has since been taken down. The Toronto Sun first reported the news.
“The NHL has concluded that Mr. Cifu’s X posts were unacceptable and inappropriate,” the league said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “As a result, Mr. Cifu has been suspended indefinitely from any involvement with the Club and the NHL.”
Cifu joined the ownership group of the Panthers in 2013 alongside head owner Vincent Viola. Cifu and Viola are business partners, having founded the financial services company Virtu Financial in 2008, where Cifu still serves as CEO.
“My behavior does not reflect the standards of the Florida Panthers organization and the Viola family,” Cifu said in a statement to Florida Hockey Now. “I sincerely apologize to all those affected by my comments. I am committed to working with the NHL to amend my actions.”
This wasn’t the first time Cifu has drawn scrutiny for posts on his account, but it has brought the harshest punishment from the league office, including a mandate for an in-person meeting with commissioner Gary Bettman. Cifu’s tweets have caused him a headache in business, too. Activist investor Bill Pulte—who now works in the Trump administration as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency—wrote last year that Cifu is not “focused on building a materially bigger business and spends precious time tweeting on items not related to the core operations of the company” and should be replaced as Virtu CEO.
A representative for the Panthers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ben Horney contributed reporting.
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