Flyers issue two-game suspension following hot mic incident during radio broadcast
The Philadelphia Flyers announced Friday that the team and their radio partners, 97.5 The Fanatic, issued a two-game suspension for comments made during the radio broadcast of the team’s Thursday matchup against the Buffalo Sabres.
While they did not specifically say who was suspended, the incident is related to a hot-mic moment between play-by-play guy Tim Saunders and color commentator Todd Fedoruk.
“These remarks do not reflect the standards of conduct or values we expect from anyone associated with our organization,” the team said in a statement.
The hot-mic moment occurred near the midway point of the third period with the score 3-2 Buffalo and the game taking a commercial break. However, the radio feed remained on the air, leading to this interaction between Saunders and Fedoruk.
Saunders: “While you’re down there, would you mind blowing me?”
Fedoruk: “I think we’re still on the air, Tim.”
Saunders: (Laughter) “No we’re not, are we?”
After a long pause with crowd noise in the background, Saunders appears to be chatting with someone from the production crew named Mike, trying to navigate the situation.
Saunders: “Do you have us? Mikey, talk to me.”
The game would resume and Saunders returned to his play-by-play responsibilities.
In their statement, the Flyers said they would address the matter with all involved parties.
“We take this matter very seriously, and sincerely apologize to our listeners, fans and all those affected by these comments,” they wrote.
The Flyers would end up losing 5-3 to the Sabres. Travis Konecny would score his 10th of the season while Bobby Brink finished with two assists.
Philadelphia is now 17-10-6 with 40 points, which puts them fourth in the Metropolitan Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference.
Forward Trevor Zegras, acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in a trade last June, leads the team in all offensive categories with 14 goals and 20 assists for 34 points in 33 games.
Goaltender Dan Vladar is 12-5-3 with a .910 save percentage and 2.41 goals against average in 20 appearances.