Patrick Kane attending Blackhawks training camp during rape inquiry
The Chicago Blackhawks released their training camp roster on Wednesday. Patrick Kane, currently under investigation for sexual assault in Erie County, NY, is on that roster and will attend camp in South Bend, Ind.
There was immediate bewilderment about Kane attending camp, given the swirl of controversy around him. After all, he hasn’t been formally charged with a crime, but that hasn’t prevented some significant fallout from the investigation.
He was dropped from the cover of EA Sports’ NHL 16, and the NHL kept him off its Players Media Tour in Toronto last week despite it coinciding with a World Cup of Hockey announcement. Kane was one of the faces of the World Cup when it announced earlier this year.
Some will claim the Blackhawks are making the right hockey decision here. Kane hasn’t been charged. There’s a lot of talk about him settling his rape case away from the courts, essentially throwing money at the problem to make it go away. So in theory, the investigation could be over sooner than later, and Kane's NHL career can continue without interruption.
But given the circumstances, that argument is nonsense. At the very least, do what Nancy Armour of USA TODAY suggested:
"Far best for everyone if Kane stays out of the picture and lets the justice system work its course, the hope that the grand jury has reached a decision before the regular season opens Oct. 7."
Kane is toxic waste at this point, and the Blackhawks are doing exactly what their legions of fans were hoping they wouldn’t do, which is put a star player above reproach and to check their morals at the arena door. Well, save for the Patrick Kane apologists.
Plus, they did something even more unacceptable, which was to essentially punt the decision on Kane’s status to the National Hockey League.
We’ll bring you back to Section 18-A.5 of the CBA, granting the League permission to suspend Kane right now if it wanted to:
18-A.5 Criminal Investigation. A Player subject to Commissioner Discipline for Off-Ice Conduct may seek a reasonable delay in such proceedings in order to retain and seek the advice of counsel in the event his conduct may also be subject to a criminal investigation by any governmental authority, or in the event of an ongoing civil proceeding where the Player has been named as a defendant. The League may suspend the Player pending the League's formal review and disposition of the matter where the failure to suspend the Player during this period would create a substantial risk of material harm to the legitimate interests and/or reputation of the League.
So it’ll be on Gary Bettman and the League to make that call, with pressure to be as proactive as they were in the Slava Voynov case. (Who is should be said, was arrested at the time of his suspension.)
And they’ll defer to the Blackhawks, who already deferred to the League, and we’ll just watch the dog chase its tail.
Meanwhile, Kane will practice with his team; the Blackhawks players will refuse to answer any question about him or offer support as Jonathan Toews already has; and Kane will be hidden from the media like he’s a plot-point in a J.J. Abrams film.
What do you think? Should Kane attend camp?
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY
