Chicago Black Hawks center Dave Bolland retweeted a post by a “fan” that called for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s death, an act the player now says he regrets.
As the lockout continues to eat away at the season with the sides apparently not close on a deal, Bolland on Friday reposted a Twitter entry that read: “can I get a RT for wanting Bettman dead?”
The retweet later was deleted.
“It was a mistake, I never meant to retweet that out,” Bolland told ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun. “I like to retweet for a lot of my fans, and I just retweeted the wrong thing. I feel bad about it.”
It’s not the first time controversy has found Bolland. In a radio interview last year, Bolland referred to Daniel Sedin and Herik Sendin of Vancouver as “sisters” and the city of Vancouver as “weirdos.”
The Twitter development also continued a trend of apparent ire with Bettman, who is overseeing a lockout for the third time since he became commissioner in 1993. The last lockout forced the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 season.
Detroit Red Wings’ defenseman Ian White recently called Bettman an “idiot,” and Florida Panthers forward Kris Versteeg referred to Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly as “cancers.”
On Friday, the NHL announced another round of cancellations, wiping out all regular-season games through Dec. 14, as well as the All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio, originally slated for Jan. 27.
The lockout now has cost the league 422 regular-season games — 34.3 percent of the season — as well as its regular-season marquee events; the annual Winter Classic was canceled earlier this month.
Just as bad is the fact that there are no new labor talks scheduled.