Evander Kane: It's Always Something

Stop me if you've heard this before. Evander Kane is in the news. The reasons why aren't positive. It's connected to his past gambling. To say that Evander Kane is a controversial figure in the NHL would be an understatement. It is always something with Kane; he has been in a cloud of controversy for, pretty much, his entire NHL career.

Kane was drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009; playing his first two seasons in Atlanta before moving with the franchise to Winnipeg and becoming the second version of the Jets. Kane spent his first 5.5 seasons with the Thrashers/Jets, and there were controversial moments during that tenure, which included multiple occurrences where Kane showed off his wealth on social media. An incident in 2015 involved Kane wearing a track suit during a players meeting, which was against policy, and it was noted that his then-teammate Dustin Byfuglien tossed said track suit in the shower to send a message.

Kane was traded to the Buffalo Sabres during the 2014-15 season, though a change of scenery did not result in a change in maturity (or lack thereof). It was during Kane's time with the Sabres that he was accused of sexual assault, and he was also disciplined for partying while attending the NBA All-Star Game in Toronto. After just barely over three years, the Sabres traded Kane to the San Jose Sharks in February 2018; at that time, the Sharks were contenders--they were two seasons removed from being in the Stanley Cup Final. However, things got much, much worse.

It was in 2019 that Kane was sued by a casino in Las Vegas for skipping out on a $500,000 gambling debt that he racked up in April--during the Sharks/Golden Knights playoff series. On January 11, 2021, just two days before the start of the abbreviated 2020-21 NHL season, it was unveiled that Kane had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in California, as he was $27 million in debt. Again, this was two days before the season started. But wait, it gets more interesting.

The reason why Kane is in the news now? On July 31, 2021, Anna Kane (Evander's soon-to-be-ex-wife) went on social media and revealed something quite stunning: Evander Kane had been betting on his own games and even throwing them to settle his gambling debts. I had to read this more than once for it to sink in, but there it was. Already, the Pete Rose comparisons came out in droves, and many fans believe the allegations due to Kane's immensely controversial history. That's not all. The future ex-Mrs. Kane revealed that they were in the process of a divorce, and added that Kane had been spending time partying while his wife (who is expecting their second child) had to sell her wedding ring to feed her one-year-old daughter.

The entire hockey world is doing a huge SMH at Evander Kane. They can't be blamed. I've read comments from Sharks fans who were thinking back to Kane's play back in 2019 and noticing how strange it was, leading them to suspect that the allegations are true. I myself believe them because, again, nothing really surprises me about Evander Kane anymore. Once I heard about Kane's massive debt, that showed me that Kane is basically capable of anything that isn't positive. And here's the thing: Evander Kane just celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday, August 2! 30 is still very young in a sport where players last through their early/mid-40s! He's at the prime of his career, yet he has spent his entire hockey life getting in his own way.

The bottom line is this: even if the current allegations somehow turn out to be false, Kane still needs to learn how to better himself as a person. As I just said, he's 30. He has a lot of years ahead of him in the NHL. But if he keeps getting into fix after fix after fix, his career will be pretty much done. He'll be declared nuclear; no NHL team will touch him. If the allegations do turn out to be true, then he's done. Finished. He'll be pretty much blacklisted from the NHL, a promising career done at just the tender age of 30. The sad part: Kane will have no one else to blame but himself.