Too much of the fan response to this story has been nauseating, with several shameless attempts to slut-shame the alleged victim. "Innocent until proven guilty" has been a refrain frequently repeated on Twitter. It's stunning to see how many people who are completely willing to give the former Conn Smythe winner a complete pass will waste no time in suggesting every possible ulterior motive of the alleged victim.
The whole saga has certainly dampened my enthusiasm going into this new season. Another championship banner will be raised at the United Center tonight, although I and many other Chicagoans will probably be tuning in to TBS to watch the Cubs instead.
I'm not assuming Patrick Kane is guilty here, but it seems reasonable to believe that the team would have been better served by having him stay away for the preseason out of respect to the criminal case. Instead, Kane appeared at camp and with the team in multiple other functions, always greeted with enthusiastic cheers. Something about this just makes me feel very icky.
I've spent too much time criticizing the fans of other teams who do not hesitate to welcome back players accused of misconduct (with some of the more high-profile cases having admittedly more evidence), so it's unusual for me to now wonder how I should respond when Kane scores his first goal of the regular season. What if he pots another series-clincher in the playoffs?
I do not know how much of this NHL season I will spend pondering these kinds of questions. The point is that I no longer have anywhere near the same level of adoration for No. 88 that I once had. After his cabbie-punching incident, his alleged girl-choking incident, and now this, I feel like every cheer for the guy is an unacceptable and uncomfortable endorsement.
So this will be an interesting year. Again, a year after I watched my favorite team do exactly what you cheer for your team all year to accomplish.
Much like last year, I'm typing this on my lunch break—which is ending. So forgive me for the lack of commentary, as that will almost certainly be the case with the NBA in a few weeks too:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic
Tampa Bay Lightning
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Detroit Red Wings
Florida Panthers
Toronto Maple Leafs
Buffalo Sabres
Boston Bruins
Metropolitan
Pittsburgh Penguins
New York Rangers
Washington Capitals
New York Islanders
Columbus Blue Jackets
Philadelphia Flyers
New Jersey Devils
Carolina Hurricanes
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central
St. Louis Blues
Chicago Blackhawks
Dallas Stars
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
Winnipeg Jets
Colorado Avalanche
Pacific
Anaheim Ducks
Los Angeles Kings
Calgary Flames
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Edmonton Oilers
Phoenix Coyotes
Stanley Cup Playoffs Opening Round
Lightning over Blue Jackets in 6 games
Canadiens over Senators in 6 games
Capitals over Rangers in 7 games
Islanders over Penguins in 7 games
Wild over Blues in 6 games
Blackhawks over Stars in 7 games
Predators over Ducks in 6 games
Kings over Flames in 5 games
Division Finals
Lightning over Canadiens in 6 games
Islanders over Capitals in 6 games
Blackhawks over Wild in 7 games
Kings over Predators in 6 games
Conference Finals
Islanders over Lightning in 6 games
Kings over Blackhawks in 7 games
2015 Stanley Cup Final
Los Angeles Kings over New York Islanders in 6 games
It's an even-numbered year, so I'm basing my Kings pick on that. Get used to this logic being used to justify title picks, because I'm sure it will be the case with at least one more in the near future.
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