The National Hockey League suspended Washington Capitals left wing Chris Simon indefinitely after he yelled racial slurs against Mike Grier of the Edmonton Oilers during a game. Simon was sidelined for the rest of the game for a "gross misconduct" penalty, which is far more serious than the ordinarily felonious assaults that land players in the penalty box for up to four minutes.

Grier, an African-American, was especially distressed that the slur would come from Simon, a Native American member of the Ojibwa tribe. "That's what was strange to me, that it was someone who has his background and his race," Grier commented. "I didn't expect it to come from another minority. It's just a little more shocking."

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