NHL suspends Florida Panthers minority owner Doug Cifu indefinitely for posting vulgar rant on X, calling Canada 51st State

Douglas Cifu allegedly goes on vulgar rant on X

Panthers vice chairman Doug Cifu suspended indefinitely by NHL over comments on social media

Owner of the Florida Panthers gets political with Canadian fans on twitter, calls them 51st state amongst other nice things

Florida Panthers exec breaks silence after being suspended by NHL for disturbing social media post

Douglas Cifu appeared to also make comments about Israel and Hamas in a reply to a Maple Leafs fan

A high-ranking Florida Panthers executive appears to have made several disturbing comments on social media Sunday night after watching his team defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 4 of their NHL playoff series.

Douglas Cifu, the team’s vice chairman, partner and alternate governor, appeared to take shots at a Leafs fan and Canada in general, while commenting on the conflict between Israel and Palestine in screenshots taken of posts that have now been made private.

Vincent Viola, left, and Douglas Cifu, center, talks to Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon after an NHL hockey press conference in 2013.

WARNING: Vulgar language

“Eat s*** 51st state anti-semite loser. Israel now and forever. Until ever (sic) last Hamas rat is eliminated,” the X account allegedly belonging to Cifu posted.

A screenshot of an alleged post by Florida Panthers executive Douglas Cifu. Twitter

The post was a reply to @mrgrozz, a Toronto sports fan account that has bragged about trolling sports team owners in the past.

In the original post which has been reposted as a screenshot, Dr. Grizzo compared the controversial hits by the NHL team to the ongoing conflict in the middle east.

Dr. Grizzo (PhD, MD, BA, MBA, 7’4 240 IQ) @mrgrozz

Panthers owner tilted LFG 😂😂😂

“Hey what’s worse, using headshots to win a series or using starvation as a weapon to win a war?” the post on X read.

Cifu allegedly replied, writing: “Actually being a whiny dope anti semite is clearly worse. Loser.”

“Not approving of using starvation as a weapon makes me a bigot? Got it,” Dr. Grizzo replied. “Get some sleep man, market opens early tomorrow. Best of luck frontrunning Robinhood traders you MAGA d*** licker.”

After the exchange, the account appearing to belong to Cifu went private. The account was later deactivated.

The NHL came down on Cifu on Monday night, suspending him indefinitely from any and all involvement with the team and the league.

“The NHL has concluded that Mr. Cifu’s X posts were unacceptable and inappropriate. As a result, Mr. Cifu has been suspended indefinitely from any involvement with the Club and the NHL,” the league said in a statement. “An in-person meeting will be scheduled with Mr. Cifu and the Commissioner at a date to be determined.”

travis_b13 @the_travis_b13

The @FlaPanthers owner, @dougielarge, of the @NHL has made this derogatory statement downplaying and disrespecting those with special needs. #Shameful

The bio for the account with the handle @Dougielarge read “Partner Cup Champ Florida Panthers and CEO of Virtu Financial (VIRT). Shill Team 6 Leader. All tweets mine.”

This is followed by the word “Israel” and five Israel flag emojis.

This is not the first time that Cifu has seemingly been caught making disparaging comments online.

In a post from the same account on X, Cifu allegedly made disparaging comments about a user by calling them a “sad creepy loser” and inferring they are “special needs.”

“Dude get a life,” the post from March 2024 appears to begin, as shown in a screenshot.

“You sad sack of s***. I’d call your pathetic school district and let them know what a sad creepy loser you are but I’m sure you’re special needs and part of a protected class.

“Enjoy your poverty. Dumb f***.”

According to the Panthers team website, Cifu also is the CEO of Virtu Financial, which the site boasts is “one of the nation’s foremost providers of financial technology products and services.”

Cifu — whose name is etched on the Stanley Cup, part of the group that the Panthers included in that tribute after winning their first title last year — is CEO of Virtu Financial, a company he co-founded with Panthers owner, chairman and governor Vincent Viola in 2008.

Panthers back in driver’s seat vs. Leafs

Toronto Sun sports columnist Steve Simmons, Canucks reporter for The Province, Patrick Johnston and Postmedia’s Rob Wong discuss the latest in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NHL. They talk about the Florida Panthers winning two games in a row against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mikko Rantanen’s impressive play for the Dallas Stars and where things stand with Rick Tocchet and the Vancouver Canucks’ head coaching search.