Halifax goalie gets support over alleged racist incident at P.E.I. hockey tournament

CHARLOTTETOWN — A Nova Scotia minor league hockey player who says he was the target of racist abuse at a November tournament in Prince Edward Island says he is reassured by the support he has received.

Mark Connors, a goalie for the Halifax Hawks U18 AA team, says racist slurs were directed at him during a recent game in Charlottetown and again at a hotel.

Connors's father, Wayne Connors, says P.E.I. Premier Dennis King sent his son a letter of apology for the incidents and that the Halifax Hawks Minor Hockey Association is boycotting tournaments in P.E.I. until the allegations are investigated.

Mark Connors said today in an interview that while he was initially upset by what happened to him, he is happy to receive the support.

The Hawks have updated their logo on their social media platforms with Connors’s number, 31, and a message that reads “Hawks Against Racism.”

Connors had also faced racism in 2018, when he says he was called a slur during a peewee hockey game in Tantallon, N.S.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2021.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press