For various reasons I have avoided saying much about the Patrick Kane situation, but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to understand how I feel about it all.
It has been revealed that the mother of the accuser planted the now-infamous evidence bag in her own doorway. There's a whole story about how she came to be in possession of an evidence bag and, given the circumstances, I cannot believe she thought she would be able to pull this off and why she would do this is completely beyond comprehension. If an actual crime took place one would think she would have zero reason to pull a stunt like this, as she has now pretty much destroyed any credibility her daughter's claim may have had. The daughter's attorney, who quit the case last evening before the evidence bag thing was declared a hoax, did them no favours, either, by not making 100% sure it was legit before calling a bloody press conference.
I'll bet Kaner is never charged in this fiasco.
I don't know what to think about this. It's looking slightly more possible that some or all of the complaint is BS, for the purpose of profit, or to "get" Kane for some reason. On the other hand, though, I could completely buy into Kane doing something nasty. He could even just be the victim of his own reputation, with his terrible public behavior in the past paving the way for someone to try to capitalize on the perception that he's an asshole/misogynist/whatever.
It didn't help that Kane biffed his press conference at the beginning of training camp. His detached, almost chipper attitude was unsettling at best, infuriating at worst. I wonder if "I appreciate the question" will spring to his mouth if this thing goes to a Grand Jury.
Team President John McDonough biffed it even worse, and he effectively undid many years of PR and marketing genius by a) not suspending Kane pending resolution of the case and b) allowing him to attend training camp. McDonough changed the subject from Kane to winning championships so fast you wonder why he chose to address the Kane topic in the first place. Some folks have spoken up to suggest that not allowing Kane to go about his usual hockey business labels him guilty; not so. Guilty or not, Kane is IN this situation, whether it is his fault or not, and to now behave like nothing is happening is disrespectful toward the justice process, Hawks fans everywhere and, not least, his accuser. I'm not entirely impressed with The NHL's handling of this all, either; there has been no acknowledgment of the case on the NHL website and their failure to step in and suggest that Kane should be excluded from training camp, which would not necessarily be a suspension, is the epitome of having their head in the sand.
Something I'm struggling with was the focus of an article that I linked to here a week or two ago that asked How can we still be proud to root for The Blackhawks?. Indeed. It's not even so much a case of "did he do it?" and, if he did, that's obviously about Kane rather than The Hawks. To me, though, it's become more about how I feel about the manner in which The Hawks have conducted themselves throughout the investigation; behaving as if nothing is amiss and getting back to business as usual just feels wrong. It would be a shame if seven or eight years of hard work, three championships and the resurrection of a left-for-dead franchise all comes apart for the sake of a ham-fisted attempt to save face. Right now, I feel like the only way I can get behind The Hawks is if they were to get Kane off the ice, and they can call it a suspension or a "time out"...whatever. I don't doubt that The Hawks are taking this matter seriously, it just feels like their concern is for the reputation of the team and nothing else, and utterly trivializes the larger concern that a terrible crime may have occurred. At this point, maybe the wisest move would be to trade his ass, which may seem extreme, but if they're actually serious about how they portray themselves publicly it would sure send a clear message as to where the team stands. As it is right now I find myself wondering if this will be an Islanders or Panthers (ha!) blog before long.
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