It’s been a big month for Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki.
Along with leading his team back to the playoffs and becoming the first Habs player in four decades to net 100 points in a single season, the 26-year-old also reached a major personal milestone: becoming a dad.
Suzuki and his wife Caitlin welcomed their daughter Maya into the world on April 15.
So, ahead of Montreal’s Game 3 matchup against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday — which happened to fall on Mother’s Day — Sportsnet reporter Elliotte Friedman sat down with Suzuki for a feature interview that felt pretty perfectly timed.
The segment, titled “Nick Suzuki’s Relationship With His Mom, And On Becoming a Father,” had Suzuki opening up about his relationship with his own mother and what it’s been like to become a parent for the first time. It was posted to Sportsnet’s website and social media channels on Sunday evening.
But by Monday morning, the interview was gone.
Sportsnet’s websiteSportsnet
The segment was wiped from all platforms after fans quickly noticed something off about the family photos included in one clip.
One Instagram user managed to grab a screenshot and asked Sportsnet, “Which one of you thought it was a good idea to AI generate pictures of Nick Suzuki, his wife and his baby? What goes through your mind when editing these interviews that you think it’s okay to do this?”
It remains unclear whether Sportsnet mistakenly used AI photos that had been circulating online or generated their own. Either way, the Montreal faithful were upset.
“Sportsnet using AI-generated pictures of Suzuki, his wife and their baby is hilarious and stupid. Do better,” wrote X user Jordan Decker.
Others were considerably less forgiving. “It is legitimately disgusting for Sportsnet to take the opportunity they got to chat with Nick Suzuki about his mom, wife and newborn and instead of handling it with respect they decided to use AI to make pictures of him, his wife and their newborn child,” wrote another user.
“‘Canada’s ‘number one sports network’ showing AI-generated photos of a player’s family, including his newborn, is reprehensible,” someone else chimed in.
Sportsnet has not issued a public statement explaining why the interview was removed. Meanwhile, the Suzuki family have yet to share any photos of their new baby.
The Habs, for their part, won Game 3 on Sunday night, and now have a 2-1 lead over the Sabres in Round 2. Suzuki had a strong performance, logging one assist and 19:44 of playing time.
The Canadiens and Sabres return to action on Tuesday night as Montreal looks to take a stranglehold lead in the series.