Patrick Kane said fans’ reaction as he took the ice at Blackhawks training camp Friday “gave him chills”.
Advertisement
Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane was greeted with loud cheers Friday in his first public appearance with the Stanley Cup champions since he became the subject of a sexual assault investigation. The information should live up to within the heart of exercising and training camp.
There was at no affirmation, or refusal for this…
“It’s an awkward situation, because you can’t really answer anything”, Kane said.
Kane later told reporters he realized they had many more questions for him concerning the matter, but he cited the ongoing investigation as his primary reason for refraining from further detail. This was Kane’s way of saying, “I would appreciate it if you stop asking me these very hard questions”.
“I can not apologize enough for the distraction this has caused my family, my teammates, this incredible organization, and of course our fans”, he said.
One such fan wearing a Kane jersey was Tim McDonnell, former Chicago resident who now lives in Dowagiac, Mich. “I’ve got a daughter so I get the other side of the whole rape thing, I’m very sensitive to that”, he said. I mean that’s just the way it has to be right now with the legal situation going on and the legal process.
“I thought because the Hawks have worked so hard for their reputation, they would’ve down played it. But everybody cheered”. Nothing was out of bounds when he, president John McDonough, general manager Stan Bowman and coach Joel Quenneville chose to meet the media. The veteran forward has not been criminally charged in the case, but a grand jury is rumored to still be probing the allegations.
McDonough can dodge that question all he wants, but the fact of the matter is, the mere presence of Kane at that conference afforded him an outlet, sponsored by the Blackhawks, to proclaim his innocence.
Advertisement
As for the team, they’re focused on what happens on the ice, for now. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound native of Vancouver, British Columbia, also registered 40 points (19 goals, 21 assists) and 22 penalty minutes in 64 games with Lake Erie of the American Hockey League.
