Saturday’s NHL game between the Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks featured an unfortunate incident in the crowd. Four fans were ejected from Chicago’s United Center for hurling racial insults at Washington’s Devante Smith-Pelly.
On Monday, the Blackhawks released a statement saying that the fans were banned from the venue.
“Racist comments and other inappropriate behavior are not tolerated by the Chicago Blackhawks,” a team statement said, per Paul Skrbina of the Chicago Tribune.
Chicago’s Anthony Duclair — himself a black player — spoke on the incident, as well.
“How do I feel? … If they were Blackhawks fans, they would know there’s a black player on their team,” he said, per Skrbina. “These four people think a certain way, and it’s not just those four people. It’s a lot more. There’s a lot more racism than you guys think that’s going on.”
If nothing else, hopefully this helps put an end to insults being hurled at stadiums.