NHL Team Apologizes After Pro-ICE Scoreboard Message On Hispanic Heritage Night Sparks Outrage

At Saturday’s NHL game in San Jose, fans were stunned when a scoreboard message appeared to celebrate Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the team’s Hispanic Heritage Night.

The San Jose Sharks held their ninth annual Los Tiburones celebration on October 18, honoring the Bay Area’s Hispanic community with local artists, performers, and businesses. Hispanic residents comprise about a third of San Jose’s population, and the event aimed to showcase inclusion and cultural pride.

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Midway through the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, as the team’s mascot S.J. Sharkie waved to fans, the scoreboard displayed a fan-submitted message that read:

“SJ SHARKS FANS LOVE ICE!! GET’EM BOYZ!”

You can watch the controversial scoreboard moment unfold below:

Some fans inside SAP Center booed as the message appeared. Videos of the moment quickly spread online, prompting backlash and confusion. While “ice” could refer to the hockey rink, many viewers interpreted the message as a reference to the federal immigration agency ICE—a chilly subject, especially on a night meant to celebrate Hispanic heritage.

The team’s parent company, Sharks Sports & Entertainment, issued an apology on X:

“Sharks Sports & Entertainment deeply regrets that this message, which does not meet our organization’s values, was not detected during our standard review process. The Sharks organization sincerely apologizes for this oversight, and we are actively working to determine the origin of the message.”

The organization added that the message did not reflect its values and confirmed that an internal review is underway.

Longtime Sharks fan Jessica Clark told CNN she and her friends were “appalled” by the incident:

“They’re my favorite team—I even have tattoos—but this was something that should’ve been caught.”

The controversy goes beyond the arena, as ICE enforcement and immigration policy remain flashpoints in California. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump ordered ICE and National Guard troops to patrol major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, sparking protests across the state.

In San Jose, city council members passed a unanimous policy requiring ICE agents to identify themselves during enforcement operations.

Across the state, the so-called "law enforcement" agency’s presence has led to tense standoffs, mass demonstrations, and growing demands for local protections.

Governor Gavin Newsom has repeatedly condemned federal immigration crackdowns, calling them “sick and pathetic,” and has expanded the state’s sanctuary policies to limit cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE.

Watch the Governor’s remarks below:

- YouTubeNBCLA

Additionally, in a June press release on his official website, Newsom said:

“Continued chaotic federal sweeps, across California, to meet an arbitrary arrest quota are as reckless as they are cruel.”

Under Newsom's administration, California has funded legal defense programs for undocumented residents, signed laws restricting ICE access to state facilities, and vowed to shield immigrant communities from what he described as “fear-based politics.”

And social media, of course, had plenty to say about the Sharks' scoreboard incident:

The Sharks’ misstep followed another ICE-related controversy just a week earlier, when a Milwaukee Brewers fan was fired after threatening to “call ICE” on a Hispanic Dodgers fan during the MLB playoffs. The woman, identified as Shannon Kobylarczyk, was dismissed from her job at Manpower Group and resigned from the Make-A-Wish Wisconsin board after the incident went viral.

As for the game itself, the Sharks fell 3–0 to the Penguins, extending their winless streak to 0–3–2.

It’s been a rough start to the season for the Sharks, who currently sit at the bottom of the Western Conference standings and have struggled to generate offense, scoring just five goals across their first five games. The team’s power play remains ineffective, and defensive lapses have plagued even veteran players.

They now head into a four-game road trip starting Tuesday against the New York Islanders before returning home on October 28 to face the Los Angeles Kings—a matchup that could either deepen their slump or offer a badly needed reset.