Arizona State Sun Devils forward Dominic Garcia revealed Wednesday night that he's been the subject of racist slurs throughout his time in the hockey world.

In a statement issued through the program, the 23-year-old said an opposing player called him the N-word for the first time at age 10. Garcia also divulged that he was called the same slur while concession snacks were thrown at him as he was walking back to the dressing room at the intermission of a junior game when he was 19.

"It's numbing," Garcia wrote. "I question if I made the mistake and misheard them. When reality sets in - that I heard what I heard - a deep pain and sadness comes over you. It's a feeling that lingers no matter what unfolds the rest of the day. It occupies your mind, even though I (along with many others) continue to put on a brave face."

The Sun Devils alternate captain said that at age 17, he stayed behind on the team bus after a game while everyone else left to go eat because the area they were in was "known to be racially confrontational."

Garcia added that he's experienced racism outside of hockey as well and that he "should be seen as an equal to all."

The Las Vegas-born winger also shared a photo of himself playing against K'Andre Miller, the New York Rangers prospect and then-University of Wisconsin defenseman who was targeted by a racist hacker during a video call with the NHL club in April.

"To you all, it may look like two players on opposing teams battling for the puck," Garcia wrote. "To me, I see a great person and hockey player in K'Andre. But I also see two black men in a predominantly white sport, who overcame adversity from not only a performance-based standpoint, but racial adversity as well. Two men who play at some of the highest levels of hockey but still continue to fight for equality."

Garcia played his junior season with Arizona State in 2019-20.

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The Western Hockey League has a tentative plan to begin its next campaign in the fall.

The league confirmed Wednesday it is targeting a start date of Oct. 2 for the 2020-21 regular season, but that date is dependent on approval from government and health officials.

"The WHL is committed to protecting the integrity of the WHL regular-season schedule and fully intends to complete a full 68-game schedule for 2020-21, regardless of when the season begins," the league said in a statement.

It added it will work with authorities in relevant regions to determine how many fans will be permitted to attend games once play resumes.

The WHL's 2019-20 campaign began on Sept. 20. The league halted play on March 12 and canceled the rest of the schedule six days later amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

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When Andrew Raycroft was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2006, he was ecstatic to get the chance to play near his hometown of Belleville, Ontario.

Unfortunately for the netminder, things didn't go as planned.

"It started to snowball on me, getting more and more difficult," Raycroft said of his two seasons in Toronto, according to The Athletic's James Mirtle. "I just didn't know what to do. I wasn't Martin Brodeur. I wasn't Patrick Roy, where I had the talent or the pedigree to just to play my way out of it. I needed confidence and I needed mental clarity and I wasn't able to find that."

Raycroft showed immense promise as a young goaltender, taking home the Calder Trophy in 2003 while with the Boston Bruins. The Maple Leafs, who were looking for an immediate answer in net at the time, traded away the rights to Tuukka Rask to bring in Raycroft.

He started 71 games in his first season with the Leafs and went 37-25-9 with an .894 save percentage and 2.99 goals-against average. His peripheral numbers dipped as the year went on, and Toronto eventually missed the playoffs by a single point.

With the roller coaster of ups and downs during his first year and constant media spotlight, Raycroft believes he may have periodically suffered from depression.

"I don't know. I'm sure there was. I wasn't happy, that's for sure," he said. "It was hard for me to be excited about anything and get to the rink. ... I don't know if it was depression clinically or what exactly that feels like, but there was certainly times when I was really sad and just didn't want to deal with anything.

"It was still at a time where it wasn't frowned upon but (getting help) wasn't encouraged by any means. And it goes to the point of me not really having the confidence to go and ask for help and just trying to deal with it myself. I don't really have many regrets. I tried my best. But I wish I asked for help."

Raycroft pointed to the constant pressure from the media in Toronto as a key reason why he didn't seek help at the time.

"It would have made miles of difference, I believe, had I been able to just go and talk to someone," he added. "But if that had got out in the media that I was going to see someone? I was scared of that happening and looking even more weak than not just playing bad and losing games, but also looking like I can't handle it."

His second season in Toronto was one of the worst of his career, as he won just twice in 19 games. He bought out of his contract in the summer of 2008 and went on to be a backup goalie with the Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, and Dallas Stars until he went to play overseas in 2012. He announced his retirement from pro hockey in 2014.

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NHL players won't be required to wear full face shields if the season resumes this summer, sources told The Associated Press' Stephen Whyno.

The NHL and NHLPA have focused on testing and other off-ice safety precautions rather than equipment changes amid return-to-play negotiations, Whyno added.

An infectious disease specialist recommended last month that players take extra precautions if the NHL returns. They suggested the use of face shields and the elimination of scrums, spitting, and fighting from the game.

However, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in May that players and personnel would be tested every evening for the coronavirus. As a result, there isn't expected to be specialized on-ice equipment.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly also said he didn't think drastic changes to equipment would be necessary.

Bauer Hockey is expected to announce a new line of protective equipment including specialized facial protection, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

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The CEO of Seattle's NHL franchise says the organization will continue to hold off on revealing the team name amid widespread protests against police brutality as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

"It's not the right time," Tod Leiweke told The Seattle Times' Geoff Baker on Tuesday. "Vegas did it a year out. We've got ample time, and the thing this organization will never be is tone-deaf. So we've got to pick the right time, and we've got to make sure all of our ducks are in a row."

Leiweke added that the team may wait until October to announce its name and that it has started designing logos and uniforms for several possible names. He also noted the club is working through "myriad" trademarking issues.

"If you do just one (name), then you've left yourself hostage to any sort of challenge," Leiweke said. "So we've had to do multiple (trade)marks, and that's about where we are."

The Seattle franchise won't begin play until 2021-22. The regular season normally begins in October, but it remains to be seen how the schedule will be affected if the 2020-21 campaign begins later than usual because of delays in 2019-20.

Leiweke said Tuesday that the reopening of KeyArena following renovations is expected to be postponed at least two months until late in the summer of 2021 due to the coronavirus. That timeline is not expected to affect the team's on-ice debut.

Seattle general manager Ron Francis said last July that the club was aiming to unveil its name in early 2020, but that plan was put on hold in March amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Vegas Golden Knights revealed their name and logo in November 2016 before beginning play in the fall of 2017.

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Waterloo Regional Police, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Kitchener Rangers are investigating allegations that a Rangers player forced younger teammates to do cocaine at a rookie party in 2016, according to The Canadian Press.

Eric Guest, who played for the Rangers from 2016-2019, said Monday that one veteran player forced Guest and another younger player to try the drug in a bathroom. Guest said he was 16 at the time.

"It was him and then me and another young kid and we were locked in that bathroom and he said, 'you are not allowed out of this bathroom until you do this,'" Guest said in a video shared on Instagram.

Guest did not disclose any names, but he said the older player had already been drafted to the NHL at the time of the incident.

The Rangers issued a statement Tuesday saying they became aware of the allegations Monday night and contacted local authorities.

"These allegations involve former players with our team and are extremely serious and potentially criminal conduct," the team said, adding that it will cooperate with the OHL's investigation.

Guest split the 2019-20 season between the Caledonia Corvairs and the London Nationals of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

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