NHL suspends Panthers exec for 'unacceptable and inappropriate' social media posts

Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald on May 13, 2025

Published in Hockey

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MIAMI — The NHL on Monday indefinitely suspended Florida Panthers executive Doug Cifu from any team and league involvement for “unacceptable and inappropriate” posts on social media.

Cifu is the Panthers’ vice chairman, partner and alternate governor and owns a minority stake in the club. He also is the CEO of Virtu Financial, which he co-founded with Panthers owner Vincent Viola.

Cifu’s suspension was first reported by the Toronto Sun.

In since-deleted posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, several disturbing comments were made on Cifu’s personal @Dougielarge account during a spat with a Toronto Maple Leafs fan following the Panthers’ 2-0 win over the Maple Leafs on Sunday, a win that evened the team’s second-round Stanley Cup playoffs series at 2-2.

The Leafs fan account, @mrgrozz, replied to a Cifu post by saying “Hey whats worse, using head shots to win a series or using starvation to win a war?” comparing controversial hits by the Panthers to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

A few replies later, Cifu countered with: “Eat [expletive] 51st state anti semite loser. Israel now and forever. Until ever [sic] last Hamas rat is eliminated.” The “51st state” comment is a reference to president Donald Trump saying during the start of his second presidential term that he wanted to annex Canada and make it part of the United States.

Cifu initially made his X account private later Monday before deactivating it entirely. The bio of the account prior to being deactivated read “Partner Cup Champ Florida Panthers and CEO of Virtu Financial (VIRT). Shill Team 6 Leader. All tweets mine” followed by the word “Israel” and five Israel flag emojis.

“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 to the Toronto Sun. “An in-person meeting will be scheduled with Mr. Cifu and the Commissioner at a date to be determined.”

In a statement to Florida Hockey Now on Tuesday, Cifu acknowledged that he “posted regrettable and inflammatory comments on social media.”

“My behavior does not reflect the standards of the Florida Panthers organization and the Viola family,” his statement continued. “I sincerely apologize to all those affected by my comments. I am committed to working with the NHL to amend my actions.”

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