NHL Suspends Doug Cifu of Florida Panthers for Inappropriate Posts

Doug Cifu, who owns a minority stake in the Florida Panthers, has been suspended indefinitely by the NHL for “unacceptable and inappropriate” posts on social media.

Cifu, who is Vice Chairman, partner, and Alternate Governor of the Panthers, first made his Twitter account private on Monday before deactivating it completely.

The NHL said that an in-person meeting with Cifu and Commissioner Gary Bettman will be scheduled at a later date.

The suspension was reported by the Toronto Sun.

“The NHL has concluded that Mr. Cifu’s X posts were unacceptable and inappropriate,’’ the NHL’s statement to the Sun read. “As a result, Mr. Cifu has been suspended indefinitely from any involvement with the Club and the NHL. An in-person meeting will be scheduled with Mr. Cifu and the Commissioner at a date to be determined.”

In 2013, Cifu was part of Vinnie Viola’s group that purchased the Panthers from Cliff Viner and his partnership group.

Cifu and Viola have been friends and business partners for many years. Cifu is the CEO of Virtu Financial, which he co-founded with Viola in 2008.

On Sunday night, after the Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series, Cifu — using his @Dougielarge account — got into a spat with a Leafs fan (@mrgrozz).

@mrgrozz replied to a Cifu post ‘Hey whats worse, using head shots to win a series or using starvation to win a war?’

A few replies later, Cifu countered with: ‘Eat shit 51st state anti semite loser. Israel now and forever. Until ever [sic] last Hamas rat is eliminated.’

On Tuesday morning, Cifu apologized for his choice of words after a request from Florida Hockey Now.

“Two days ago, I posted regrettable and inflammatory comments on social media,’’ Cifu wrote in a statement.

“My behavior does not reflect the standards of the Florida Panthers organization and the Viola family.  

“I sincerely apologize to all those affected by my comments.  I am committed to working with the NHL to amend my actions.”

Panthers owner tilted LFG 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/qhk0DFCYOg

— Dr. Grizzo (PhD, MD, BA, MBA, 7'4 240 IQ) (@mrgrozz) May 12, 2025

Cifu, who has his name on the Stanley Cup after last year’s championship, had a large role in how the franchise was being run a few years back.

Following Florida’s 2015-16 Atlantic Division championship, Cifu was part of reworking the team’s front office with Dale Tallon moved to an advisory position with associate GM Tom Rowe promoted to general manager.

Early in the 2016-17 season, coach Gerard Gallant was famously fired after a loss in Raleigh to the Carolina Hurricanes and replaced on the bench by Rowe; assistant GMs Steve Werier and Eric Joyce took over the GM responsibilities.

By the end of that season — one in which the Panthers missing the playoffs by 14 points — Tallon was back as GM. Rowe did not return as coach, and Werier left the organization.

Joyce remained working under Tallon but left not long after Bill Zito took over in 2020.

“Everything was done with the best intentions,” team president Matt Caldwell said in 2017 when Tallon was officially brought back as the team’s general manager after a rough 2016-17 season.

“We want to win. We want to look at a lot of things that were out there, a lot of voices, but I think what we learned is that having a singular voice … and have one single voice that reports to ownership is most important.’’

The Panthers did not return to the postseason until the 2020 Toronto bubble, with Tallon not retained.

During those years, Cifu had a very active Twitter presence when it came to the team. He had both positive interactions with fans, as well as adversarial posts and replies with those who criticized the way the team was being run.

Viola reportedly told Cifu to tone down the volume on his social media when it came to the team with Tallon back running the hockey operations department.

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: GAME 4

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS 

Best-of-7 series tied 2-2

• When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
• National TV: ESPN
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Series Schedule — Game 1: @Toronto 5, Florida 4; Game 2: @Toronto 4, Panthers 3; Game 3: @Florida 5, Toronto 4 (OT); Game 4: @Florida 2, Toronto 0; Game 5: Wednesday @Toronto, 7 (ESPN); Game 6: Friday @Florida TBA (TNT/truTV); Game 7*:Sunday May 18 @Toronto TBA (TNT/truTV).
• How They Got Here: Toronto d. Ottawa 4-2; Florida d. Tampa Bay 4-1
• This Regular Season: Panthers Won 3-1; Last Regular Season: Tied 2-2
• All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 51-40-7, 7 ties
• All-time Postseason: Panthers d. Toronto 4-1 (2023 ECS)