January 29, 2022 /

Edmonton Oilers Talk: “Kane has never been convicted of a crime. That’s important to mention.”

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

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The Athletic

Oilers leaders believe Evander Kane will buy in — and they’ll have to be accountable for that
  • Kane has never been convicted of a crime. That’s important to mention.
  • He’s faced allegations of assault, harassment, trespassing, domestic violence and betting on NHL games. Court cases have eventually been dismissed in some cases. The last two accusations were made by Kane’s estranged wife. The NHL ruled her claims could not be substantiated in the former and found no evidence of the latter.
  • “I take responsibility for things I’ve done wrong, but I’m not going to take responsibility for things I haven’t done,” he said.
  • No one has ever questioned Kane’s hockey abilities. He plans on bringing a blend of scoring with a physical edge that he believes the Oilers don’t have up front. With his talents, playing alongside someone like McDavid means there’s a real shot at Kane netting 20 goals in the second half of the season.
  • Kane adds another winger to the top six and makes the Oilers a more formidable team to play against.
  • Kane is also a power-play option if not on the first unit then on the second, which lacks options behind the team’s best forwards.

BLH’s Thoughts: Also important to point out (hat tip to Kevin Weekes who pointed this out on Oilers Now this week), Kane, a black male, won custody of his daughter. Just consider how rare that is in today’s society.

All those allegations and speculation and he’s either found a way out of those situations or they’re simply not true. How that must grate on the nerves of some… 

You cannot expect a person to hold themselves accountable for unsubstantiated acts. Simple as that. 

I don’t really know if this ties into what I said above or not, but I want to bring it up anyhow because it bugged me when I watched it.

On the Daily Faceoff Show, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk were talking about Kane’s media avail and the question from Yaremchuck to the former TSN insider was, “What did you think of the Kane avail and what do you think about his fit in Edmonton?”

Seravalli immediately got on his soapbox and wanted to know why Kane hadn’t “copped” to anything aside from his gambling problem. My question to that is, what else does he need to admit to? What good is it going to do him or the Oilers to bring up stuff in Atlanta, Buffalo, and Winnipeg considering it’s all hearsay at this point and how much of that speculation is hockey-related anyhow? What exactly did Frankie what Kane to say there? He could’ve said he f*cked up in other markets and “copped” to some wrongdoings, but then, knowing the media, the follow-up query would’ve been, “Can you expand on how you messed up in Buffalo/Winnipeg/Atlanta/San Jose?” and when he refused to “get into details”; they would’ve gone back to him not holding himself accountable… 

Seravalli didn’t comment on how he felt Kane would fit in with the Oilers and I doubt he even planned to do so in that clip. So that tells you a bit about where he sits as an empathetic human. To me, it almost appeared that Seravalli took the signing as a slight against him, like the Oilers insulted him personally.

At one point, Frank really leaned into Kane regarding the incident with his old assistant coach in San Jose (that’s yet to be named but putting two and two together, it’s more than likely ex-NHL player John MacLean as he’s been reported to be running their PP and this altercation took place after a PP meeting) where there was a heated exchange and the coach confronted Kane with his shirt off. Seravalli wondered what Kane said or did to make that coach behave in such a manner. 

Any other player and the media would be all over the coach like flies to shit blaming him for losing control and not having the proper communication tools, but because Kane has gone through some stuff (which I’ve been told all started way back in Atlanta, btw) and he doesn’t exactly fit into a certain expected mould, he’s to blame. 

Now, I’m not all up on the latest SJW lingo and definitions, but isn’t that a form of victim blaming? 

To take it a tad further with the Jacob Panetta incident for a minute. This young man got raked over the coals over something that was selectively misconstrued by THOUSANDS of people as racist and since then he’s provided proof and he’s had his ex-teammates come to bat for him, but it’s been all crickets from the likes of Seravalli and Friedman AND the Subbans especially. Why aren’t they wondering Jordan Subban said to get that taunt from Panetta? If he was a racist do you think his ex-teammates and the organization that cut him would put their reputations and careers on the line for him in a social media post? F*ck no! Not in the current social climate. 

Sure, personally, I would’ve liked Evander Kane to be a bit more humble and to have steered the questions about his past a different direction, but at the same time, it’s none of my business what happened off the ice as it’s none of your business either. So as juicy as it would be to hear about that, I’m okay with waiting until he writes a book about his time in the NHL to read about it.

For now, I’m more concerned with how he performs on the ice and how he can help this team. If he shits the bed, he shits the bed and my support of the player will be open to criticism, but if he doesn’t and he turns his life around with the help of the Oilers organization, I hope that all those who threw stones at him will be willing to give everybody involved the credit they deserve. 

Sportsnet

Oilers give Kane, and all his faults, another chance to write a new narrative
  • In 35 years of interviewing athletes, I have never encountered such a combination: genuine, documented legal troubles; such absolute determination to absolve oneself of responsibility for whatever part of it Kane can shed doubt on.
  • Like his departures from Winnipeg (where the leadership group demanded he be removed from the locker room), Buffalo (where a woman filed a civil lawsuit, alleging Kane sexually assaulted her) and San Jose (where he forged a Covid document before the Sharks voided the contract of their leading scorer from last season).
    • They’re just a “narrative,” or a “storyline.”
  • When the game starts, Kane is a very good hockey player.
  • Edmonton is easy to play against. Kane will help with that.

BLH’s Thoughts: Remember when Spector was making his case for the Oilers not to sign Kane and he was ringing off uniform numbers like they actually meant something? 

“Kane favours jersey No. 9. But in Edmonton that number hangs in the roster honouring Glenn Anderson. And No. 99, well… Number 19? That’s Mikko Koskinen. No. 29? Ever hear of a guy named Leon Draisaitl. Is this karma telling Holland there is no place on his team for Kane?”

F*cking nailed it right on the head there Spec! Good job! Karma really showed Ken Holland a thing or two there, eh?

The journos in Edmonton should be hopping for bloody joy that Evander Kane signed with the Oilers because he will give them something new to write about now. Whether it’s his on ice heroics (if there end up being any) or if he makes a mess of it off the ice in the Northern Alberta capital, every beat writer is going to have a plethora of topics to dig into. I wonder who’ll choose to go the tabloid route and who’ll choose to cover the hockey player? I wonder if Jim Matheson or any other member of the Edmonton media will have the balls to ask Kane why he’s so pissy?

What I find even more interesting is that every move that this team makes has Connor McDavid’s signature on it, it has Leon Draisaitl’s, and it has Darnell Nurse’s… So when is the media in Edmonton going to start to nail those guys for greenlighting these moves when they don’t work out and conversely, when will they get praised for their insight because they are entitled to that as well?

My feeling, at the end of the day, is the on-ice product is what matters most and if by some miracle the Oilers win the Stanley Cup and Evander Kane plays a big role in that, all these white-washed over-the-hill journos had better be lined up to shake the Kane’s hand and thank him. 

Spector’s Hockey

  • DAILY FACEOFF: Frank Seravalli and Scott Burnside discussed what could be next for the Vancouver Canucks after hiring Patrik Allvin as their new general manager and Emilie Castonguay as assistant GM. They believe the top priority is figuring out what to do with J.T. Miller.
  • NEW YORK POST: Larry Brooks reports the Rangers’ preference is to re-sign second-line center Ryan Strome but Miller could be a potential replacement.
  • THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Giana Han reports Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher will be having discussions with Claude Giroux to determine their 34-year-old captain’s future with the club.
    • Fletcher also indicated he’s looking to aggressively retool his roster rather than engage in a rebuild.
  • THE SCORE:cites The Athletic’s Josh Yohe reporting Evgeni Malkin is willing to accept a pay cut to remain with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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CategoriesArmchair GM Beer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL Rumors

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Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!