Detroit — Red Wings prospect Givani Smith endured racial slurs, threats and abuse in his team’s playoff series against Sault Ste. Marie in late April.
Smith, 20, who is black, was suspended for Game 7 of the OHL Western Conference final series — which his Kitchener team lost — after making “an inappropriate gesture” toward at the Greyhounds’ bench (flashing a middle finger).
Smith was inundated on social media with racial slurs and insults after the Game 6 incident, according to Saturday’s Waterloo Region Record, and also received a death threat.
“There were threats, physical threats after Game 6,” Kitchener general manager Mike McKenzie told The Record.