Banana throwing incident in NHL called ‘stupid and ignorant’
The National Hockey League is condemning an incident this week where a banana was thrown at a Philadelphia Flyers player during a game in London, Ontario.
The banana apparently was thrown as Wayne Simmonds was scoring a goal during an exhibition game.
WPVI-TV reports Simmonds, who is black, issued a statement Friday, calling the incident “unfortunate.”
“It was unfortunate that this incident happened, but I am above this sort of stuff,” he said in the statement, published on the WPVI-TV website.
The NHL also responded to the incident, with commissioner Gary Bettman condemning the person responsible.
“The obviously stupid and ignorant action by one individual is in no way representative of our fans or the people of London, Ontario.” Bettman said Friday.
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