Fans watching the Minnesota Wild’s broadcast feed of Tuesday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers heard some shocking language.
Midway through the second period, the Wild+ broadcast tried to switch the audio feed to the referee to hear a penalty announcement. However, there seemed to be trouble doing so, as the broadcast abruptly switched to the audio of an unknown man, who dropped an ableist slur while talking about goaltenders. The remark was met with laughter from whoever he was talking to.
“Every goalie is re****ed,” the unknown man was caught saying.
??? pic.twitter.com/s9jsJDnur6
— What Chaos! (@WhatChaosShow) October 21, 2026
The moment was met with instant reaction from fans who witnessed the mistake. Popular hockey show What Chaos! immediately clipped the moment and shared it to social media, where it racked up over 4,000 likes and 100 responses.
Many thought the mistake should be met with swift action, though nobody was able to determine if the man in question was a member of the broadcast team or simply a fan in the Rogers Place stands that happened to be near a microphone.
“Somebody about to get cancelled lol,” one fan wrote on X.
“Probably someone sitting next to a mic near the glass,” said another fan.
Someone is getting fired https://t.co/rb7d6m4uYP
— Michael Menzies (@Menzies_4) October 21, 2026
“The normalization of the r slur is so disgusting, and I absolutely hate how acceptable that word has become. I really hope the NHL takes this seriously and suspends the person who said that,” wrote a disappointed fan.
This would be far from the first time a hot mic got somebody in trouble during a hockey game.
Back in 2025, Philadelphia Flyers radio play-by-play announcer Tim Saunders was suspended after telling a vulgar sex joke that wound up being broadcast to audiences. In 2020, baseball commentator Thom Brennaman was suspended and eventually let go by Fox Sports after getting caught saying a homophobic slur that was picked up by a hot mic.