Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters gives instruction during training camp in Calgary on Sept. 13, 2019.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Bill Peters’s status as the Calgary Flames’ coach — and whatever future he might have in hockey — have been placed into question while the NHL and the team investigate allegations he directed racist slurs at a Nigerian-born player in the minors 10 years ago.
Asking for patience, general manager Brad Treliving said Tuesday that Peters remains with the Flames after the allegations raised by Akim Aliu on social media a day earlier. Peters, who has not commented, stayed at the team hotel and was not with the team as it practised for Wednesday night’s game in Buffalo.
Aliu alleged Peters “dropped the N-bomb several times towards me in the dressing room in my rookie year because he didn’t like my choice of music.” It happened during the 2009-10 season, while the two were with the Chicago Blackhawks’ minor-league affiliate in Rockford, Ill.
Treliving called the alleged comments “repulsive.”
“Allegations of this nature, we take very, very seriously. This is subject matter that has no place in our organization,” Treliving said. “Now it’s my job to find out exactly what’s taken place.”
He said he had spoken with Peters and has had two conversations with Aliu by phone. Treliving offered no timeline and said he didn’t know if Peters would be behind the bench against the Sabres.
The NHL called the alleged behaviour “repugnant and unacceptable,” but held off commenting pending further investigation.
Aliu has not returned messages left by The Associated Press, but he has since expanded on his allegations by telling TSN that Peters made the remarks in Rockford’s dressing room, calling out his choice of music with a brief tirade marked by profanities and the N-word in front of several teammates.
“He then walked out like nothing ever happened,” Aliu said. “You could hear a pin drop in the room, everything went dead silent. I just sat down in my stall, didn’t say a word.”
Two of Aliu’s teammates in Rockford, Simon Pepin and Peter MacArthur, corroborated the story to TSN.
Aliu referred to former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick as a reason he stayed quiet for so long. Kaepernick has spent the past three-plus seasons out of football since he began kneeling during the national anthem at NFL games to protest police brutality and racial injustice.
“This isn’t to the degree of Kaepernick by any means, but if you play the race card, it’s most likely the end of your career,” Aliu told TSN. “This isn’t me being bitter. I sat on this a really, really long time. It broke my heart. I think it made my career go downhill before it started.”
Flames players were blindsided by the allegations against the second-year coach. Calgary defenceman Oliver Kylington, whose mother is Eritrean and father is Swedish, said Peters has always treated him fairly, and yet respected Aliu for voicing his complaints.
“If he felt like those words have been seen, I really respect that he’s speaking out,” Kylington said. “Words like that should never, ever be said.”
Flames captain Mark Giordano called it “a really tough situation” for the individuals involved and franchise.
“I think we all know there’s no place for any of that sort of stuff in society, but also you have to respect that the allegations are just that right now, and you’ve got to go through the process,” Giordano said, saying the team attempted to focus on having a good practice as they try to bounce out of a 1-5-2 slump.
Peters was hired by Calgary after spending four seasons coaching the Carolina Hurricanes. The 54-year-old made the jump to Rockford after leading the Western Hockey League Spokane Chiefs to a Memorial Cup championship in 2008.
Later Tuesday, former NHL defenceman Michal Jordan alleged Peters kicked him while the two were with the Carolina Hurricanes.
“Never wish anything bad to the person but you get what you deserve Bill,” Jordan said on Twitter. “After years making it to the NHL {I] had [an] experience with the worst coach ever by far. Kicking me and punching other player[s] to the head during the game then pretending like nothing happened ... couldn’t believe my eyes what can happen in the best league.
“Happy that I don’t have to go through that stuff on daily basis anymore.”
Acknowledging he rebelled against Peters, Aliu said the coach eventually asked Blackhawks executives John McDonough and Stan Bowman to send him to a lower minor-league level. The Blackhawks issued a statement saying nothing had previously been brought to their attention regarding Peters and Aliu before Monday. The team added it had no effect on any player staff decisions involving Aliu.
Aliu played under Peters during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. He was demoted to the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL during the 2009-10 season. Aliu, who was born in Africa but raised in Ukraine and Canada, later played seven NHL games over two seasons with Calgary.
The 30-year-old Aliu has had a transient career since being selected by Chicago in the second round of the 2007 draft.
He’s not playing this season after appearing in 14 games with Orlando of the ECHL last year. The Solar Bears were Aliu’s 11th team over a six-year span, which included stops in Russia, Sweden and Slovakia.
Aliu’s tweet came after reports surfaced of how poorly Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock dealt with his players in Toronto before he was fired several days ago. Forward Mitch Marner confirmed that during his rookie season Babcock asked him to rank Maple Leafs players in order of hardest to least-hardest working. Babcock then shared Marner’s list with numerous players.
Aliu noted Peters was Babcock’s protégé .