THURSDAY COMMENTARY – ON EVANDER KANE
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)
THE BACKLASH FROM SOME OILER FANS OVER MY STRONG OPINIONS ON THE STRUGGLING NHL TEAM POTENTIALLY SIGNING EVANDER KANE HAS BEEN A LITTLE SURPRISING.
I’VE SAID I WOULDN’T TOUCH KANE WITH A 10-FOOT POLE, AND MY STANCE HASN’T CHANGED.
THIS SITUATION REMINDS ME WHY I STARTED A BLOG IN THE FIRST PLACE, AND BEGAN THIS COMMENTARY; TO GET THINGS OFF MY CHEST AND EXPLAIN THINGS TO THE NOT-SO-ENLIGHTENED.
SO HERE GOES …
OILERS GM KEN HOLLAND SAID HE FAVOURS SECOND CHANCES AND FOR THAT, I APPLAUD HIM. SO DO I, AND WITHOUT SECOND, THIRD OR EVEN FIFTH CHANCES, I’D HAVE BEEN OUT OF BUSINESS LONG AGO.
BUT I CHANGED. IT WAS NOTHING HEROIC. I WAS GIVEN THE OPTION OF TURNING MY LIFE AROUND, OR LOSING EVERYTHING. FOR ME, IT WAS AN EASY CHOICE.
THE CASE OF EVANDER KANE SEEMS TO BE DIFFERENT. HE DOESN’T SEEM INTERESTED IN CHANGING AT ALL.
AND BE MINDFUL OF THE FACT WE MAY NOT KNOW ALL THE DETAILS. SAME GOES FOR ANTONIO BROWN.
IN RECENT TIMES, KANE HAS HAD ISSUES TIME AFTER TIME INCLUDING DECLARING BANKRUPTCY, SOME REAL DISTURBING ALLEGATIONS FROM HIS EX-WIFE, AND HE REMAINS UNDER INVESTIGATION OVER COVID ISSUES.
OH BUT WAIT – HE’S SCORED 20 GOALS SIX DIFFERENT TIMES AND THE OILERS NEED A LEFT-WINGER TO PLAY WITH CONNOR MCDAVID!
MAKE NO MISTAKE – THIS ISN’T A RECLAMATION PRODUCT FOR KEN HOLLAND. IT’S A DESPERATE MOVE BY A GM WHO FEELS HIS TEAM NEEDS A SPARK OR A SHAKEUP.
PEOPLE ARE COMPARING THIS TO ANTONIO BROWN IN THE NFL BUT TO ME, THEY’RE NOT PARALLEL AT ALL.
A-B HAS A LONG HISTORY AND RAP SHEET TOO, BUT HE WAS A MODEL CITIZEN IN TAMPA BAY WHEN THEY WON A SUPER BOWL LAST YEAR.
SO THIS YEAR HE TOOK OFF HIS EQUIPMENT IN THE MIDDLE OF A GAME AND QUIT ON THE TEAM MID-GAME.
IN THAT INSTANCE, HE’S NOT HURTING ANYONE BUT HIMSELF AND IT WAS HARDLY A LEGAL SITUATION.
BUT HEY, THE EDMONTON OILERS CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT.
I JUST MISTAKENLY THOUGHT THEY WERE A GOOD ENOUGH TEAM AS IT IS.
THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV. Call you cable provider for details. You can also watch on YouTube Live or listen 24/7 at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive)
Thank you for creating the blog too. It is a blessing and a great avenue. It is not my place to judge. Years ago Bob Probert, Theoren Fleury, Sheldon Kennedy, Grant Fuhr, Cary Price all the way back to Terry Sawchuck etc., the list goes on of players who struggled with addiction which lead to erractic behavior. Sawchuck was insane, but people say good guy/bad addicition. With the rest people recall these guys were fine at one point they just went off the rails. Evander Kane has no known.history of addiction. He is just an entitled mouth as I have… Read more »
I think I agree with you on this one Rod. Maybe it might be the best thing for him if no one picks him up? He keeps getting chances, so why change in his mind? I don’t know, but I hope he can turn around his life, at least for his kid.
Evander Kane never took any guff from anyone and isn’t about to do so soon. As a black man this man has stood his ground and did it his way for the most part in a predominantly white man sport. He’s still productive on a sheet of Ice, someone will sign him somewhere anywhere.
ahhhh waited for it and there it is. The old racial issue. I know it must have been so hard for him to rise up out of the south central area of L.A and dodging bullets from the Crips and Bloods….oh wait that’s Ricky from Boyz in The Hood No Evander is biracial, and lived in an upper class existence in Vancouver. Okay, what is the cost of living there that a person can still play elite hockey? It’s pretty high so he’s been a big baby his entire life. Oh, and he’s named after Evander Holyfied – I think… Read more »
JG,
You speak like the true white man you are. Evander is still a man of color, that’s just the way it is.