Sportsnet Takes Heat After Posting AI Pic of Canadiens Nick Suzuki & Family

 

The Montreal Canadiens and Nick Suzuki have put up fierce resistance to the Buffalo Sabres in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

In game three, the Canadiens put a damper on the hopes the Sabres rode into the second round, hanging six goals on Alex Lyon.

Nick Suzki tallied an assist in the victory that night, providing a primary assist on Alex Newhook's goal at 15:14 in the third period against the Sabres. 

That goal was the Canadiens' sixth of the night and sealed the victory for the team, which was still considered to be in rebuilding mode this season. 

However, it wasn't the Habs winning the game that caused a furor amongst the fanbase; it was Sportsnet who made themselves look foolish. 

Sportsnet: Generating Foolishness

Instead of asking the Suzuki family for any photos to share, the broadcaster utilized LLM technology to generate a photo of Suzuki, his wife Caitlin, and their baby Maya. 

The post was generated on Monday, after Suzuki was interviewed by Sportsnet about becoming a father. A segment that'd later be wiped from the media giant's website, and in its place, they used GenAI content.

"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?"

Instead of generating love, the fans are revolting, with this technology, which has seemingly put its tendrils in all of our everyday lives. 

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

— kay (sports are pain) (@kay_imw) May 10, 2026

Suzuki is legitimately one of the Canadiens' best forwards since he arrived in the organization. This isn't the only playoff run he's seen with the team, helping take the team to the postseason four times, and to the Stanley Cup finals once against the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

You'd think that journalistic integrity would be a focal point of a Rogers-owned product in Sportsnet, but like many other forms of media, they've fallen into the trap of AI-generated "slop". 

 Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images