Tripp Tracey sent out a series of tweets on Tuesday night that left fans and employees of the Carolina Hurricanes concerned. By Wednesday afternoon, the Bally Sports South analyst announced that he was taking some time away from the team “to get healthy”.
The tweets, which have since been deleted alluded to Tracy struggling with addiction.
“We are in full support of his efforts to get healthy and ask that everyone please respect his privacy in this matter,” Hurricanes team president Don Waddell said in a statement.
Tripp Tracy has been part of the team’s television broadcasts for more than 20 years. He was originally partnered with John Forslund. The team shut down its radio booth four years ago, and now Tracy works with Mike Maniscalco on a simulcast of the games across television and radio.
Tracy was not part of the broadcast on Tuesday night when the Canes defeated the New York Rangers to clinch the Metro Division title. Former Hurricane Shane Willis filled in and will likely continue to do so.
On Wednesday morning, Tracy was back on Twitter. He did not address fan concerns, but he congratulated the team and apologized for his earlier tweets.
In 1993, the Philadelphia Flyers drafted Tracy, a goalie at Harvard, in the 9th round. His entire pro career was spent in the minor leagues with both the Flyers’ and Hartford Whalers’ (now the Hurricanes) farm systems. He started his media career at CNN before joining the Hurricanes’ broadcast booth in the 1998-1999 season, the first in the team’s new home market.
