First of all, I want to make this perfectly clear. This post isn't about standing up for Patrick Kane, nor is it one proclaiming he's innocent. This is a post merely about how you should feel about the last news Patrick Kane is in.
On Thursday morning as I awoke for the day, I checked Twitter at 6:15 am, I saw a post from News Radio 780 that had an article stating that Patrick Kane was involved in a police investigation. At first glance I thought, this can't be good, but since it was so vague, I had some doubts. But as I began my drive to work, and my brain began to focus more, my thoughts changed to this. I was disappointed the more I thought of report I had read about Kane earlier in the morning. And regardless of the outcome of the investigation, you should too.
Patrick Kane is one half of the face of a franchise, that a fraction of the current fanbase, didn't give a rat's ass about 10 years ago. Frankly from someone like this, I expect more. Just as I thought over this past season that Kane is a changed man, its clear after the latest news, he's not. And for someone who's 26, I'm beginning to think he never will. This isn't the third strike against Kane that involves a night of drinking that some have proclaimed. Need I remind you of this?
While Kane wasn't the only one involved (see Kris Versteeg) or the one who was married (see John Madden), it was an incident that was brushed aside. Which is troubling since it occurred months after his drunken punch of a cab driver. Sadly these incidents were a precursor to an even more embarrassing case of drunken shenanigans. In the off season of 2012, Kane found himself acting like an immature frat boy in Madison, WI, which were revealed in some pathetic pictures. That was finally the one that got to the Blackhawks brass that there maybe a problem. Kane himself addressed it and said it was time for him to grow up. I took his word for it, we all did.
Sadly on Thursday when the story broke out of what allegedly happened over the past weekend, that trust factor was broken to me, and everyone. Unfortunately, some Blackhawks fans are in a state of denial. Which is ridiculous. This isn't him having "fun" as a couple of people have mentioned to me. There's a difference between fun and acting like an idiot. I'm sure Jarret Stoll was just looking to have fun to in Vegas. The bottom line for me is I'm tired of this act. Patrick Kane hasn't changed one bit. He's still the immature punk that he was labeled back in 2009 with the cab incident. How much more of this behavior are you going to put up with? You can see from the other day, the San Francisco 49ers finally had enough of Aldon Smith's act. It shouldn't depend on how good of a player one is to take a stance on an issue. The issue here is, Patrick Kane has a drinking problem, as our friend Greg Boysen pointed out. He's 100% correct. As was Sam Fels from The Committed Indian who posted back in 2012 that Patrick Kane needs to stop drinking. Now, that no one has taken those pleas seriously, Patrick Kane, and the Blackhawks are facing this problem.
Patrick Kane let the entire Blackhawks organization and their fans down. It doesn't matter the outcome of the investigation. Someone who has the stardom of his nature should know better than to put himself in this situation. He let you down, you know it, I know it, EVERYONE knows it. Stop acting like this isn't a big deal. Because it is a big deal. Someone needs to get through to Kane that he can have a successful life and NHL career without drinking. All he needs to do is look over on the bench and see his backup goalie. Someone of Kane's profile shouldn't be in the news at this time of the unless its about having his day with the Stanley Cup. That's a fact.
I'm not saying the Blackhawks need to get rid of Patrick Kane after these allegations. I'm saying this isn't strike three when it comes to a strike out. Its strike four. The Blackhawks need to ask themselves how much more of this they want to put up with. After this latest incident, it makes a fellow immature punk, Johnny Manziel look like a saint. All I can say is, I really regret giving my 8 year old nephew a Patrick Kane shirsey for Christmas last year.