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On the Facebook page of Jonathan-Ismaël Diaby, a 24-year-old defenceman for the semi-pro Marquis de Jonquière team, there is a joyful photo taken in the minutes before his game at the arena in St-Jérôme Saturday night. It shows his girlfriend, her teenage brother and three of his friends in the stands, sporting wide smiles and white T-shirts with the letters D-I-A-B-Y emblazoned.

“Ready for a great night,” Diaby’s caption reads. Other members of his family, including his parents and his sister, were also out for the match.

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The smiles would not last long.

Diaby, a former third-round draft pick of the NHL’s Nashville Predators now playing in the six-team Ligue nord-americane de hockey, found himself the target of racist taunts as he sat in the penalty box from a fan of the home team Pétroliers de St-Jérôme.

“The usual stuff: nègre, baboon, that sort of thing,” he said.

The fan stood up on the boards and reached around the glass to yell at Diaby. According to team captain Alexandre Quesnel, the fan showed him a video on his phone of a monkey dancing. The fan mimicked the moves, pointed at Diaby, then kicked and punched the glass as Diaby reacted.