The San Jose Sharks have apologized for displaying a message on the Jumbotron appearing to praise Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the team’s Hispanic heritage night.
“SJ SHARKS FANS LOVE ICE !! GET’EM BOYZ !” the message read during the first intermission of the team’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the SAP Center in San Jose Saturday night.
The post immediately sparked outrage from those in attendance — many heard booing in response — as the Sharks were holding their ninth annual celebration of Hispanic heritage on what they call “Los Tiburones Night.”
In response to the backlash, the Sharks issued an apology later in the game, saying the message was submitted by someone not in attendance and was “inadvertently displayed on the in-arena scoreboard.”
“During the first intermission of tonight’s game, an offensively worded message which had been externally submitted was inadvertently displayed on the in-arena scoreboard,” the NHL team posted on X late Saturday night.
“Sharks Sports & Entertainment deeply regrets that this message, which does not meet our organization’s values, was not detected during our standard review process. The Sharks organization sincerely apologizes for this oversight, and we are actively working to determine the origin of the message.”
While the team apologized for displaying the message, some still found it unacceptable that it made it onto the Jumbotron.
“On Los Tiburones night too, sheesh. Tough look,” one user replied to the apology.
“Have better standards for screening forward,” another wrote.
“Anybody and everybody associated with this message, from the top down, should be fired yesterday! Go get em boyz!!” demanded another.
Lifelong fan Jessica Clark said she and her friends were “appalled” by the message.
“They’re my favorite team — I even have tattoos — but this was something that should’ve been caught,” she told CNN.
San Jose went on to lose the game to Pittsburgh, 3–0.
With Post wires.
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