Evander Kane has caused a minor commotion.
Evander Kane (left) entertained the puck crowd on and off the ice. AOP / USA TODAY Sports
Edmonton’s star forward Evander Kane played just three and a half minutes in the opener against the Winnipeg Jets.
In the second period, a frustrated man fought the Jets pack by Brenden Dillon with. Both gentlemen were sentenced to one sentence for fighting and two for behavior.
– I didn’t really play in the first set, so I thought I might as well fight and sit on the ice for 7-8 minutes, Kane commented on his fight during the second set break in the live broadcast.
The comment naturally caused a bit of an uproar, as players rarely criticize their coaches so bluntly – especially in the middle of a match.
In the final set, Kane got no less than 6:43 of ice time and in the whole match a total of 14:04, but the discussion about the loud striker’s comments continued even after the match.
– I’m sure someone will make a video clip of this that will spread on social media. You just don’t do this, you don’t pick on the coach in the middle of the match. I thought it was funny, but I don’t know if it was right, Sportsnet pundit, ex-player Kevin Bieksa stated.
According to the man, Kane should perhaps discuss the ice time with the coach behind closed doors instead of criticizing his manager in front of the TV cameras.
– This might cause a bit of a disturbance, Bieksa guessed
“Probably not interested”
Bieksa also said that he himself has been in a somewhat similar situation once in Vancouver, when Rick Bowness served as head coach of the Canucks.
Bowness had benched Bieksa in the third set, but finally released him with eight minutes left in the match. That’s when Bieksa decided to fight.
The coach was confused by the defender’s trick and asked the next day why Bieksa had fought, even though it was a one-goal game that was right at the end.
– I said that you didn’t play with me during the entire set, so I thought that you probably wouldn’t care if I sat on the ice for five or six minutes. He said that he hadn’t thought about it from that angle, Bieksa said with a laugh.
Kane scored 28 (16+12) points in 41 games in Edmonton last season, but this season he has only one assist in five games.
The entire Oilers’ season has also gotten off to a rough start, as the Oilers have won only one out of five games. In addition, the team’s captain and number one star Connor McDavid was injured in the Jets match, which ended in a 2–3 overtime loss.
Source: Sportsnet