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Bill Peters sidelined but not fired as Flames head coach after revelations of racist comments towards Akim Aliu

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Bill Peters has been sidelined as head coach of the Calgary Flames as the team continues an investigation with the NHL on the coach’s conduct more than a decade ago.

Akim Aliu, a Nigerian-born former NHL player and current free agent, revealed through tweets and media interviews this week that Peters directed multiple racial slurs at him while the two were together in the Chicago Blackhawks organization.

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Flames General Manager Brad Treliving said to the media on Tuesday that “Bill has not been relieved of his duties, we are continuing this ongoing investigation right now. The serious nature of this is not lost on us, we take it with extreme seriousness.”

He added that Peters’s conduct, if true, is “repulsive.”

Treliving has already spoken to Aliu to get his side of the story since his tweets were published.

Peters was not on the ice during Flames practice in Buffalo on Tuesday as assistant coaches and assistant general manager Craig Conroy led the skate. Peters also did not speak to reporters after the Flames’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Penguins.

Aliu first publicized the allegation Monday night days after Mike Babcock was fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs and reports surfaced that Babcock had betrayed the trust of then-rookie Mitch Marner and pitted him against veteran teammates. Peters was an assistant coach under Babcock during their time with the Detroit Red Wings.

Aliu shared the full story with TSN on Tuesday.

In the article, two of Aliu’s former teammates on Rockford, Simon Pepin and Peter MacArthur, corroborated his account.

“What am I going to say? I was 20-years-old and a first-year pro. I was too scared to speak up,” Aliu said. “I beat myself up every day over it.”

The NHL quickly condemned Peters’s alleged behavior as “repugnant and unacceptable.”

The Blackhawks said this in a statement:

The alleged actions by a former coach toward Akim Aliu while with the Rockford IceHogs are something we take seriously. The purported incident had not been reported or brought to our attention prior to yesterday and had no effect on any player personnel decision regarding Mr. Aliu.

Aliu was inspired to share the painful moment after the Toronto Sun reported an incident between Babcock and Mitch Marner during the star forward’s rookie season.

The Blackhawks selected Aliu in the second round of the 2007 NHL Draft. His first season in the Blackhawks organization was in 2009-10 with the AHL Rockford Ice Hogs. It was the second of three seasons Peters was the head coach there. Aliu scored 11 goals and had 17 points in 48 games for Rockford. He also had 14 points in 13 games with the ECHL Toledo Walleye.

4 PM Update: Former Hurricanes player Michal Jordan says Peters, during his time as head coach of Carolina, kicked him in the back during a game – a story that has been confirmed by multiple teammates. During another physical altercation, Peters hit a player in the head.

Headline photo: NHL

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