Journalist fired for unprofessional conduct surrounding reports on Johnny Gaudreau's passing

This morning the hockey world was shocked by the passing of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew in an accident last night. However, rumours began spreading last night due to some questionable conduct from a employee of the Flyers Nitty Gritty blog.

Late last night, a journalist with the blog shared an unconfirmed account of Gaudreau's passing, then deleted his statement and walked back his reports. It led to hours of online speculation on Gaudreau's status, and absolutely was not handled in the correct manner. Flyers Nitty Gritty, a credentialed NHL news outlet, has now parted ways with the journalist who made the report.

The writer was receiving significant backlash for the insensitivity of his reports from fans and colleagues, including writer Tony Androckitis who called him out for sharing unconfirmed reports as facts. It's a serious violation of journalistic integrity with an incredibly personal report.

The entire hockey community is mourning the loss of the Gaudreau brothers today and are thinking of their family in this incredibly difficult time.