Now that the hangover is starting to sink in from Patrick Kane getting arrested in Buffalo, N.Y., early this morning for attacking a cab driver over 20 cents change, resulting in charges of second-degree felony robbery and misdemeanor counts of theft-of-services and criminal mischief, the Blackhawks are now faced with an incredibly difficult decision to make.
What I predict will likely happen is that all of the heat will come down on Kane’s cousin, Patrick will publicly apologize for making a “mistake,” face a slap on the wrist from the league and the Blackhawks organization, and will likely be sentenced to community service (that is, if the cabbie isn’t paid off so that he declines to pursue charges).
As big of a fan as I am of the Blackhawks and believe there is a huge level of talent in the kid, I hope management makes the right decision and moves to unload Kane.
Harsh? Yes. But think about it in context: Last season NHL commissioner Gary Bettman suspended Sean Avery for six games for a crack about rival players dating his ex-girlfriends and going after his “sloppy seconds.” A couple days later, the Dallas Stars fired him. He was just 23 games into a four-year, $15.5 million deal, but the team released him because they said he would be a distraction.
I applauded the precedent that set and how it reassured hockey purists that while it’s unspoken that “hockey players are different,” the new NHL was making sure they stay that way with a We Don’t Take No BS attitude.
With the Blackhawks hot off their first Western Conference Finals appearance in decades and making moves so far this offseason to show they’re not going to rest until the team hoists the Cup, this is more than a distracting setback. Rick Morrissey has already written about how this will tarnish the image the organization has worked so hard to create the past two seasons. And when you ask a casual fan what story they remember most about the Blackhawks, how many do you think a year from now will still cite the time the entire team chartered buses and showed up at ex-GM Dale Tallon’s father’s funeral on their off day?
Like any other professional sport, hockey is a business, and Kane is a hot commodity. But moreso than other sports, phrases like “character player” and “class act” get bandied about when describing hockey players on and off the ice, something Dale Tallon used to describe Marian Hossa at the initial press conference after signing him to a 12-year, $62 million deal in July:
“I didn’t talk to any of our guys (about Hossa) other than our scouts and staff and other people in other organizations as far as his past, his history and his character,” Tallon said. “I know our players will love him. He’s a great guy and a great player. They’re going to love being with him.”
The team will be running into salary cap problems at the end of the 2009-2010 season when they need to re-sign all-stars Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith, along with Kane. Toews and Kane are both still on their rookie contacts and have already been branded as the faces of the organization’s future, while Keith is the criminally underpaid half of one of the best defensive pairings in the NHL. Kane won the Calder Cup his rookie year and put up impressive numbers last season before failing to really amount to much in the postseason. But if he is to stay, multiple other players — who haven’t been in trouble with the law — will likely have to go.
The Blackhawks go out of their way to not step on the Indian Head logo on the floor of their locker room at the United Center, but Kane has essentially hocked a fat loogie in the face of all it represents and shown that he values his career at about 20 cents. If the Blackhawks are committed to building a franchise based on character and the notion that NHL players are held to a higher standard than other sports stars — not to mention an easy way around the upcoming salary cap situation — it’s time to show Patrick Kane the door.
