Florida Panthers part-owner and alternate governor Doug Cifu might be regretting his social media activity this week involving Toronto Maple Leafs fans.

Cifu, who has been involved with the Panthers franchise since 2013 and is a business partner (and CEO) at Virtu Financial with Florida majority owner Vincent Viola, was suspended by the NHL on Monday for a since-deleted rant at a Maple Leafs fan.

As reported by the Toronto Sun’s Dan Bilicki, Cifu’s comments directed at X user @mrgrozz about being a “51st state anti-semite loser” and saying “Israel now and forever” drew attention from the league’s head office.

BREAKING NEWS: Doug Cifu of Virtu Capital, was suspended by the NHL indefinitely from any and all involvement with his team and the league. pic.twitter.com/7PySIYcxPq


— Kevin Malone (@Malone_Wealth) May 13, 2025

X user @mrgrozz also shared further context of the interactions between the two that led to the suspension, which appeared to have started with a discussion about the overly physical nature of the series between the two teams.

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


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

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

Cifu’s account has since been deleted on the platform.

Cifu has been Viola’s right-hand man since buying the team, being mentioned in a 2013 statement on the Panthers website when the sale was made.

“I have worked with Vinnie Viola for a long time and, in my mind, there is no better person to lead a sports franchise like the Florida Panthers,” Cifu said at the time. “He is an intelligent, hard-working, self-made family man that cares about the community, about the people he works with, and will build a first-class organization that we can all be proud of.”

It is unclear how long a suspension the NHL may inflict on Cifu, though it seems likely that he won’t be in attendance for the Panthers’ next home game on Friday night.

The Leafs and Panthers return to Toronto for a Wednesday night tilt at Scotiabank Arena for a pivotal Game 5 with the series tied 2-2.

Lead photo by

Security Traders Association/YouTube