‘Regrettable’ pro-Israel tweets land Florida hockey exec in penalty box
An opposing team fan asked Florida Panthers minority owner Doug Cifu to defend Israel’s war tactics. He took the bait.
The Florida Panthers next face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 5 on Wednesday. Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
By Louis Keene May 13, 2025
An NHL team executive’s heated online exchange with a pro-Palestinian hockey fan has earned him a brisk forecheck from the league’s commissioner.
Doug Cifu, a minority owner of the Florida Panthers and the team’s vice chairman, has been suspended indefinitely pending a meeting with Commissioner Gary Bettman after tweeting “eat s— 51st state antisemite loser” to a Canadian fan that compared the Panthers’ aggressive play to Israel’s war tactics.
“The NHL has concluded that Mr. Cifu’s X posts were unacceptable and inappropriate,” the league said Tuesday in a statement. “As a result, Mr. Cifu has been suspended indefinitely from any involvement with the Club and the NHL. An in-person meeting will be scheduled with Mr. Cifu and the Commissioner at a date to be determined.”
Sunday marked, for many ordinary people, Game 4 of the Panthers’ second-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. But it was just another day online in the everything-is-Gaza culture wars, with Cifu, the billionaire co-founder and CEO of fintech firm Virtu, serving as the main character.
The online face-off began around the same time as the game did, when an anonymous Maple Leafs fan account that goes by “Dr. Grizzo” replied to a Cifu post with a question: “Hey what’s worse, using headshots” — that is, illegal above-the-shoulders hockey hits — “to win a series or using starvation as a weapon to win a war?”
Israel’s blocking of aid to Gaza, part of its campaign to destroy Hamas and re-occupy the territory, has helped spur widespread famine, with 1 in 5 Palestinians in Gaza facing starvation, according to a U.N. report published Monday.
After the Panthers finished off a 2-0 victory that evened the series, Cifu — who is Jewish and had five Israeli flags in his X bio — responded to the question.
“Actually being a whiny dope anti-semite is clearly worse. Loser,” he wrote.
Dr. Grizzo shot back: “Not approving of using starvation as a weapon makes me a bigot?”
Cifu replied: “Eat s— 51st state anti-semite loser. Israel now and forever. Until ever [sic] last Hamas rat is eliminated.”
As the back-and-forth circulated on social media, Cifu made his X account private, then deactivated it.
Cifu called the posts “regrettable” in a statement Tuesday.
“Two days ago, I posted regrettable and inflammatory comments on social media,” Cifu said. “My behavior does not reflect the standards of the Florida Panthers organization and the Viola family. I sincerely apologize to all those affected by my comments. I am committed to working with the NHL to amend my actions.”
Though it was possible cussing out a fan and invoking the pejorative “51st state” reference to Canada alone crossed the line, Jewish fans noted that the NHL’s statement did not make clear how Cifu’s Israel-related comments factored in its decision.
“Outrageous that Doug Cifu has been suspended for posting ‘Until ever last Hamas rat is eliminated,’ one wrote. “He’s 100% right, and the NHL needs to develop a backbone and not side with murderers whose sole aim is to kill civilians.”
Dr. Grizzo celebrated Cifu’s ban on X Tuesday by posting a video of President Donald Trump telling a crowd, “We do a little trolling. It’s called, we do a little trolling.”
