Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan says Dusty Imoo will not be joining the Toronto Marlies as their goaltending coach after the AHL club originally announced his hiring Sunday.
“Dusty Imoo will not be joining the Toronto Marlies,” Shanahan’s said in a statement.
“We made a mistake by not thoroughly following our organizational protocols when considering this candidate for the position of goaltending coach for the Toronto Marlies.”
The organization faced backlash after their initial announcement of Imoo’s hiring, with many fans pointing to Imoo’s controversial social media history — the former Los Angeles Kings goaltending coach had previously favourited and retweeted a number of tweets featuring blatantly discriminatory rhetoric, as well as others supporting the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol and anti-vaccination sentiments.
Imoo spent four years as part of the Kings organization before serving as a goaltending coach in the KHL during the 2019-20 season. Prior to his NHL tenure, he held similar roles in the AHL, WHL and BCHL.
The Maple Leafs organization has been among the most outspoken among NHL clubs recently in regards to championing social justice causes. General manager Kyle Dubas has been at the forefront of that effort, telling Sportsnet’s Donnovan Bennett earlier this year:
“It’s not just enough to say that I’m not racist… We have to be doing more, openly, to help Black, Indigenous— really anybody in our lives, in our community, that faces any type of systemic barriers, systemic racism or injustice.”
