Critics immediately jumped on Bozak for dressing in blackface and — after realizing it might not have been such a good idea — he pulled the crotch-grabbing pose shortly after tweeting the photo.
The low-scoring Bozak defended himself after the controversy and stood up for his actions in another tweet.
"That's a tribute to one of my favorite artists," he posted. "For anyone saying it's racist is crazy!"
Bozak's controversial photo follows a recent trend of NHL players donning blackface on Halloween. Adam Burish and Patrick Kane partied as Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen in 2009 and Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres and his wife dressed as Jay-Z and Beyonce last year.
Torres' costume created such a media backlash, the Coyotes organization found it necessary to defend their player with a statement calling the accusations of racism "ridiculous."
The Maple Leafs have not yet commented on the Bozak situation.
A lot of people right now are probably thinking the young Canadian just didn't realize that wearing blackface was offensive and insensitive to some but, it has been reported that Bozak previously dressed up as a Jamaican bobsledder two years ago.
Old Bozie might want to switch to whiteface and go as Bozo next year.
