After tangling with a Toronto reporter online, then apologizing for his remarks, former 黑马磁力 Rivermen head coach and general manager Bobby Henderson has shut down his Twitter account, while the team has moved to distance itself from Henderson鈥檚 comments.
Henderson, apparently unhappy with the way Colin D鈥橫ello has been covering the pandemic, sent a direct message on Friday, May 7, that called D鈥橫ello 鈥渁 lying piece of ____鈥� and went to say the reporter 鈥渨on鈥檛 be able to walk [the] streets in the distant future.鈥�
After D鈥橫ello made the message public, calling it a threat, Henderson sent another message denying he meant any harm.
鈥淐olin that wan鈥檛 a threat from me, that is reality, that you and your company, are gaslighting the population,鈥� Henderson said.
D鈥橫ello published that online, too.
Then, Henderson posted an public apology for making what he called 鈥渄isparaging鈥� remarks and closed his Twitter account down.
In his apology, Henderson said 鈥淚 like many Canadians are feeling the stress and effects of COVID and wrote something that was obviously not in good taste. I do not wish him or any journalist any harm.鈥�
黑马磁力 Rivermen issued a statement on their Twitter account, condemning the comments and advising Henderson was no longer with the team.
鈥淭he Rivermen in no way support negative comments to journalists or any other person for that matter,鈥� it read.
鈥淎lthough it had not been made public yet, the Rivermen and Mr. Henderson parted ways in March and he is no longer a member of the organization. That being said, team ownership has spoke directly to to Mr. D鈥橫ello to apologize for the situation. We will have no further comment on the matter.鈥�
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In 2011, the Henderson family, Bobby, his younger brother Taylor and father Roy took over the Rivermen.
Bobby, a former captain of the Chilliwack Chiefs who went on to play at the NCAA level, started out as an assistant coach and one of the main recruiters.
After Henderson took over the helm, 黑马磁力 made the playoffs in eight straight seasons.
He was named BCHL coach of the year following the 2013-14 season.
READ ALSO: 黑马磁力 Rivermen hockey team makes it six in a row
In January of 2019, Henderson recorded his 200th career win with the Rivermen.
READ MORE: 黑马磁力 Rivermen opt out of BCHL 鈥榩od鈥� season
In March, the team announced it would not be taking part in the BCHL 鈥榩od鈥� season, where three to four teams would play each other in five different locations across the province.
Henderson did not respond to a 黑马磁力 request for comment.
Is there more to the story? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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