Evander Kane - What’s the Issue?

[thegazelle]

I have personally never been a fan of Kane since he was drafted in 2009 or whatever year it was Tavares was drafted first overall...I think Kane was top 5 that year - remember buying the hockey cards for that set.

Anyway, his antics in the various places he has been (I can't even remember them all) has definitely not endeared himself to his teammates much less his fans. I would expect this kind of selfish "look at me" childishness from NBA players, not from NHL players. Certainly I looked forward to the day he was out of the league.

When he was picked up by the Oilers, I was appalled, thinking did management not have a deep dive on his history and him wearing out his welcome with his various teams? I would presume the Oilers did do their research and took a calculated risk on him.

That said, as much as I didn't like the guy personally, I can say that he has been nothing but a hard worker in Edmonton and from all indications, keeping his nose clean and giving back to the local community, as well as be a supportive teammate, knowing his role as a support piece, not a primary offensive threat. Perhaps the calculated risk of a redemptive act was worth it.

That said, Kane is what - in his 30s now (I am thinking same age as Tavares probably) and his natural production would have tailed off. BUT I do remember seeing him get injured with that nasty skate cut - who knows if there are residual effects of something like that. I don't know.

I do know that while I have not always been a fan of his (not in the least actually), I am still happy the Oilers picked him up.

 

[Channelcat]

Cement hands

 

[DingerMcSlapshot]

Cement hands

Hands, feet and head.

 

[DingerMcSlapshot]

Sometimes having your wrist slashed open can have negative affects on your shooting/passing.

Maybe. But the injury was awhile ago. He's cleared to play and clearly isn't motivated anymore. Pretty sad to watch him this year.

 

[PuckG]

It's pretty clear from watching him play that McDiver cares more about inflating his stats than winning. If you think that's acceptable for a captain, that's on you. That being said, a captain with serious character issues like that is going to struggle to hold teammates accountable.

It’s pretty clear from your posts that you care more about inflating your post count than providing anything of substance. If you think that’s acceptable for a high quality HF poster, that’s on you. That being said, any forum poster with serious character issues is going to struggle to keep himself accountable.

And yes, that blurb was as stupid as yours.

 

[PuckG]

Oilers fans will tell you it's all good tho

If you think this interaction is that meaningful, then sports probably isn’t for you and you’re probably a bit of a diva.

It would be more concerning if they weren’t communicating or pissed when they play poorly.

 

[bucks_oil]

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When you post online bragging how rich you are with bricks of money + when a teammate is so disgusted by your selfish behaviour he throws your clothes in a shower, that's a good indicator of clown like behaviour. There's much, much more you can find online explaining what makes Kane a clown.

Jezus... that was literally a decade ago. He was 22.

Let's focus on 32 year old Kane shall we?

The facts of the matter and sequence matter:
1) He got severely injured and came back "not the same". Everyone saw it, he's lost a bit of a step and he's not confident in his shot. None of this should be a surprised for a 30 year old guy rehabbing a terrible injury.
2) He started the season kinda on a cold streak, playing alongside Connor Brown with Draisaitl. Brown was absolutely terrible, both he and Kane are building their way back from career threatening injuries... what could go wrong right?
3) He (and Brown) get demoted to the third line.
4) During the worst of our streak, he puts the team on his back, scores 14 points in 8 games, including a hatty at the end of the heater during game 3 of our 16 game win streak... he was the only guy playing hard through (and into) that streak. Huge credit to him.
5) Despite this, he doesn't get promoted back to a top6 line... so he starts to pout.
6) He goes cold and pouting continues.


It may sound like I'm making excuses for him, ... I'm not.... but it's just painfully obvious to see that this guy is playing peeved off and frustrated, and I don't blame him. Yes, he's a prima donna... how many of you have playing on a hockey team that didn't have at least one?

These things are manageable... need to be managed... sometimes that gets ugly, guys have words on the bench... and then it's fine.

I think a mountain is being made of a molehill.

 

[Mattb124]

Hell, if Kane is such a clown and whatnot then how has he managed to stick around the league for almost 1000 games?

Because he has been a good enough hockey player that teams were willing to take a gamble on him (pun intended). The issue is, every team who has taken a chance on him has wanted to move on after 2-3 years.

If folks really delved into his personal life, they would not be so dismissive of the notion that he is the problem. Attached is a link to a story about Kane reneging to pay his girlfriend to abort his 3rd pregnancy with her in June 2018. He married his now ex-wife during the same timeframe.

Judge rules Sharks' Evander Kane must face discovery in abortion-for-pay lawsuit

A federal bankruptcy judge gave the go-ahead for discovery in a lawsuit filed by Hope Parker, who alleges Kane reneged on a promise to pay her at least $2 million if she aborted their pregnancy.

theathletic.com

 

[Spirits]

I have personally never been a fan of Kane since he was drafted in 2009 or whatever year it was Tavares was drafted first overall...I think Kane was top 5 that year - remember buying the hockey cards for that set.

He was 4th iirc.

It's pretty clear from watching him play that McDiver cares more about inflating his stats than winning.

Best 100' player in the league today AINEC.

 

[Team_Spirit]

If you think this interaction is that meaningful, then sports probably isn’t for you and you’re probably a bit of a diva.

It would be more concerning if they weren’t communicating or pissed when they play poorly.

It's meaningful enough to be presented by Kevin Bieksa in his intermission segment. But sports probably isn’t for him and he's probably kind of a diva right?

It would be more concerning if he wore 2 rolexes in warmup while he produced like Warren Foegle that's for sure.

 

[umma gumma]

It's meaningful enough to be presented by Kevin Bieksa in his intermission segment. But sports probably isn’t for him and he's probably kind of a diva right?

It would be more concerning if he wore 2 rolexes in warmup while he produced like Warren Foegle that's for sure.

That segment seems to be more about Drai than Kane.

 

[PuckG]

It's meaningful enough to be presented by Kevin Bieksa in his intermission segment. But sports probably isn’t for him and he's probably kind of a diva right?

It would be more concerning if he wore 2 rolexes in warmup while he produced like Warren Foegle that's for sure.

Again, if you’re someone who looks for bigger issues when there doesn’t seem to be one, you’re a diva. That interaction is normal to anyone that has played competitive sports.

A game, in which dropping the gloves and fighting one another happens somewhat regularly, might not be for you.

We complain that the sport is getting soft - in reality, it’s also some of the fans.

For what it’s worth: Bieksa also states this is good when players communicate. Who would have thought teammates holding each other accountable was a bad thing…

 

[Imcanadianeh]

And they were dogshit after getting swept by the Ducks and not making the playoffs those following two years.

Id say the developement of Connor, Ehlers, Laine and Helle had a bigger impact than jettisoning Kane had.

Hell, if Kane is such a clown and whatnot then how has he managed to stick around the league for almost 1000 games?

When did I once try and claim getting rid of Kane is the reason the Jets became a good team, I just pointed out that what you claimed was completely wrong.

He’s still around because he’s talented and franchises keep hoping this is the time he finally matures and stops being a meat stick.

Traded from Jets, traded from Buffalo, contract terminated by the Sharks and now it looks like he’s also wore out his welcome in Edmonton. You don’t need to be a good detective to figure out what’s going on.

 

[winnipegger]

Summary after 6 pages: OP asks why Kane's production has dropped in the past two years. Mostly irrelevant posts about his character follow. The more helpful posts indicate that his power-forward style of play has diminished with age, and the wrist injury affected his shot.

Will there be another 6 pages discussing Kane's character? Stay tuned!

If you like Kane so much why don't you have dinner with him just once and see if you still like him. My guess is he talks about himself the whole time and you walk home sad.

 

[Rcknrollkillnmachine]

If you like Kane so much why don't you have dinner with him just once and see if you still like him. My guess is he talks about himself the whole time and you walk home sad.

Probably stiffs him with the bill too.

 

[yeaher]

Kane could have been a 40/40 guy annually if he had it between the ears. Edmonton is like why put this asshole with McD when we can giveth he the Hymen and he will score 69, it is written.

 

[Tom Polakis]

Summary after 6 pages: OP asks why Kane's production has dropped in the past two years. Mostly irrelevant posts about his character follow. The more helpful posts indicate that his power-forward style of play has diminished with age, and the wrist injury affected his shot.

Will there be another 6 pages discussing Kane's character? Stay tuned!

If you like Kane so much why don't you have dinner with him just once and see if you still like him. My guess is he talks about himself the whole time and you walk home sad.

I don't like or dislike Kane.

I do dislike off-topic replies to the OP's query, which had nothing to do with Kane's character, much like your reply has nothing to do with my post. Waaay back on Post #1 in this thread, the OP asked the group why his production has fallen off, and you're on an odd tangent about liking him and having dinner.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

He is what he is

An inconsistent player who averages somewhere between 35-55 pts most years and is prone to long stretches of poor play/hot streaks.

He has honestly been overrated his entire career.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

He is what he is

An inconsistent player who averages somewhere between 35-55 pts most years and is prone to long stretches of poor play/hot streaks.

He has honestly been overrated his entire career.

Had to look it up as I somewhat doubted your numbers- dude has scored 50 points but twice. Ya, he’s a temperamental plug-and-play shooter who mighta lost his fastball with the wrist surgery. It might not even be an attitude thing now, just who he is as a player. I know the complaint in Buffalo was that he’d bull rush the zone and then fire it off target from a bad angle, creating the opponent’s breakout for them as it rung around the boards. Dunno if that’s still the complaint, but point is I can see him doing offensive without being efficient about it.

 

[Goose]

It's hard to score goals in the NHL, and he's better at it than most, but it's not like he's in the Laine/Aho tier, or even the Pacioertty/Boeser tier of goal scorers.

IMO he's overrated as a goal scorer and point producer (being one of those rare guys who has clear gap of more goals than assists), but his physicality never gets the credit it deserves.

He plays as hard as a guy like Tom Wilson but never seems to get attention for it (comparatively). The only two guys who hit and score as much as Kane are Ovechkin and Benn, though they're clearly much better players.

Interestingly, the best production comparison I could find for him over his career is Anders Lee (not accounting for the physicality of play obviously.)

 

[lawrence]

I still dont get the hate against this guy.

He was supposedly a huge problem in Winnipeg but that team was still shit untill the big fat dude and Wheeler was off the team

Then there is all the shenanigans with his ex-gf where its quite easy to see that he aint the crazy one.

Okay, so the whole covid-vaccination stuff was stupid as hell, but someone like Bertuzzi who had to forfeit games because he didnt want to get the jab doesnt get outed as stupid or selfish.

So, i am left with a gambling-addict that seems to have kept his head down trying to turn things around. I dont think thats the definition of a selfish clown.

for him to "flex" images of him with a boat load of money might have rubbed people the wrong way. Now its his money yes, and he can do whatever he wants with it, but it just shows cockiness and arrogance. Because no player in NHL history or even the NBA has done anything as cocky as that. My friend knows his sister. Humble and hard-working as hell. HIs entire family is like that, hard working poor east Van people hard working as hell, he gets a "lotto" like career and gifts to be a NHL player, and he does this shit, might rub people the wrong way.

at the same time, I think thread is kinda stupid now. This is a problem with him and the oilers, quite frankly I was kinda happy for him, when Oilers gave him a 4 year deal and such. some things never change, but who knows.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I call this Kane fever. It happens to every fanbase.

Winnipeg: HE'S OUR FUTURE STAR!!!
One season later: Either man up or get out of Winnipeg
Buffalo: WE GOT A SUPERSTAR!!!
One season later: Locker room cancer
San Jose: WE LOVE HIM!!!
Two years later: we hate him...
Edmonton: WE LOVE HIM!!!
Today:
Next team: EVANDER KANE IS A STEAL!!!
Future: He ruined our team (I can see it being Toronto)
Following team: THAT'S A GOOD PICK-UP
Future: Didn't think a team wanted him...
Another team: HOW DID WE GET HIM THAT CHEAP!
Future: We lost in the finals thanks to that turnover by Evander Kane...

 

[Mattb124]

I doubt he ever gets a contract for more than 1 year for the remainder of his NHL career.

 

[Dirty Dan]

for him to "flex" images of him with a boat load of money might have rubbed people the wrong way. Now its his money yes, and he can do whatever he wants with it, but it just shows cockiness and arrogance. Because no player in NHL history or even the NBA has done anything as cocky as that. My friend knows his sister. Humble and hard-working as hell. HIs entire family is like that, hard working poor east Van people hard working as hell, he gets a "lotto" like career and gifts to be a NHL player, and he does this shit, might rub people the wrong way.

at the same time, I think thread is kinda stupid now. This is a problem with him and the oilers, quite frankly I was kinda happy for him, when Oilers gave him a 4 year deal and such. some things never change, but who knows.

Why did you bring up NBA? You know damn well NBA has ton of flashy players.

They know damn well Kane is a NERD compared to them. He didn't even have to check in when he went to LA for games.

 

[Mach2]

Evander is probably saving his energy and talent for the playoffs.