TSN hockey broadcaster apologizes for comments about incident from 2005

TSN hockey analyst Kevin Sawyer has apologized for comments he made on a Winnipeg Jets broadcast earlier this month about an alleged incident when he was an assistant coach with a junior team in 2005.

Prior to tonight’s Jets game in Carolina, Sawyer said his comments about the alleged incident involving the Minnesota Wild’s Jared Spurgeon were unprofessional and insensitive.

Spurgeon was a Spokane Chiefs defenceman when the broadcaster was an assistant coach with the Western Hockey League team.

Tonight marked the first time Sawyer addressed the issue publicly since the Jets-Wild broadcast on Jan. 4.

On the broadcast, Sawyer said the team saran-wrapped Spurgeon to a pillar in the arena.

Sawyer said tonight his words from the broadcast were inaccurate and shouldn’t have been told on television. He said the team was holding a celebration for Spurgeon’s 16th birthday that night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2020.

The Canadian Press