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Around the NHL 2017/2018


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https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/10/racism-winnipeg-and-why-the-sharks-are-a-good-fit-for-evander-kane/

 

Reading the article from the link on the twitter feed to the right....  My eyes could not stop rolling.    

Apparently Winnipeg is super racist... yet no mention about how culturally diverse our city is and how Dustin Byfuglien has had zero issues and is beloved by the city.   

Article glosses over Kane's off ice issues and says his NBA attitude is just misunderstood and nothing at all about him being a selfish bad team mate.   I really can't wait until he wears out his welcome in yet another city. 

Edited by Brandon
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32 minutes ago, Brandon said:

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/10/racism-winnipeg-and-why-the-sharks-are-a-good-fit-for-evander-kane/

 

Reading the article from the link on the twitter feed to the right....  My eyes could not stop rolling.    

Apparently Winnipeg is super racist... yet no mention about how culturally diverse our city is and how Dustin Byfuglien has had zero issues and is beloved by the city.   

Article glosses over Kane's off ice issues and says his NBA attitude is just misunderstood and nothing at all about him being a selfish bad team mate.   I really can't wait until he wears out his welcome in yet another city. 

That article is joke. 

Winnipeg has a whole lot of problems, including racism, but it's not different from any other city. 

Of course, we have Buff, who's had no problems settling in here.  And, we have a football team made up of men from different ethnicity's  and different backgrounds.

We embrace anyone and everyone, regardless of their background, as long as they play with the team in mind and act respectful. We'll even put up with some self-promotion as long as you're not a distraction.

 

Kane was run out of town, not by the fans, but by his own teammates. That tells you everything you need to know about Kane, the person. 

 

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Didn't Gackle grow up in Winnipeg?  What a terribly written article and absolutely perplexing he can put this garbage together after that "love letter" he penned back in January, essentially defending the city after the whole "cold and dark" incident took place.

Gackle makes no mention of the fact the Bay Area has a completely different sports make-up than Winnipeg and the Sharks are arguably behind the 49ers, the Raiders, the Warriors, the Giants, the Athletics, and maybe even the Earthquakes in terms of popularity and exposure. There is no apples to apples comparison between there and here. One could make a similar argument for Buffalo. However, I am certain racism and bigotry are alive and well in the Bay Area. I suppose Gackle didn't pay attention to what happened with a former 49ers QB a while back.

Quote

“I was in Atlanta for my first two years and those were very smooth years. Then, we got sold to Winnipeg and things changed. I didn’t change, so it’s interesting how things happen,” Kane said, adding: “It’s great that San Jose is so diverse. I’ve heard nothing but positive things.”

As per usual with Evander Kane, more finger-pointing and zero accountability for one's own actions. Not a peep about his me-first attitude, his immaturity, or how he rubbed his teammates the wrong way with his antics.

Quote

...the rest of Kane’s transgressions add up to the rough equivalent of rolling through a stop sign. He got blasted in Winnipeg for posting a picture on social media in which he held a big stack of money up to his ear like a phone.

He got blasted for the money phone incident because it happened during the 2012-13 NHL Lockout, a time where employees of arenas were out of work and not getting paid. He was criticized across the hockey world for his utter lack of tact, flaunting a stack of cash while partying in Las Vegas.

Dustin Byfuglien is by definition a minority in the hockey world but he's gotten along in Winnipeg just fine. Of course there's not a word of that in this click-bait rag. What absolute horse-****.

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1 hour ago, Brandon said:

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/10/racism-winnipeg-and-why-the-sharks-are-a-good-fit-for-evander-kane/

 

Reading the article from the link on the twitter feed to the right....  My eyes could not stop rolling.    

Apparently Winnipeg is super racist... yet no mention about how culturally diverse our city is and how Dustin Byfuglien has had zero issues and is beloved by the city.   

Article glosses over Kane's off ice issues and says his NBA attitude is just misunderstood and nothing at all about him being a selfish bad team mate.   I really can't wait until he wears out his welcome in yet another city. 

how did you guys get past the pay wall?

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2 minutes ago, kelownabomberfan said:

how did you guys get past the pay wall?

There was no paywall for me. Here's the article minus the pictures:

Quote

SAN JOSE — Evander Kane is already proving that he meshes well with the Sharks’ brand of hockey.

He plays a fast, physical, straight-lined game, a style that has allowed him to rack up five points in four games since he arrived from Buffalo at the trade deadline Feb. 26.

After tumultuous runs in Winnipeg and Buffalo, the Bay Area might just be the perfect fit for Kane off the ice, as well.

The Sharks acquired Kane at a bargain-basement price — two conditional-draft picks and a prospect — because of the “problem child” label that got slapped on him during his first eight seasons in the league.

A series of accusations — assault in 2014, sexual assault in 2015 and harassment and disorderly conduct in 2016 — never resulted in charges but sullied Kane’s reputation nonetheless. The infamous tracksuit incident in Winnipeg reflected the immaturity of an average 23-year-old, an episiode that Kane, now 26, says he learned from.

Beyond that, the rest of Kane’s transgressions add up to the rough equivalent of rolling through a stop sign. He got blasted in Winnipeg for posting a picture on social media in which he held a big stack of money up to his ear like a phone. Kane, who is black, also faced criticism for shaving a Lil Wayne reference — “YMCMB,” which means “Young Money Cash Money Billionaires” — into his hair.

Former-Sharks broadcaster Drew Remenda, in a recent KNBR interview, summed up the general view of Kane by relaying how a former teammate described Kane: NHL talent, NBA attitude.

Sounds like the former teammate is dealing in thinly-veiled racism.

This characterization plagued Kane in Winnipeg, tagged as Canada’s most-racist city by Maclean’s magazine in a 2015 cover story, and Buffalo, another majority white city. It’s unlikely that Kane will face the same type of backlash for his “NBA attitude” in the Bay Area, known for its ethnic diversity, lefty politics and passion for the Golden State Warriors.

It’s hard to imagine that Steph Curry, Draymond Green or Kevin Durant would face heat for joking around and displaying a little swag on social media.

Sharks forward Joel Ward, who’s also black, said the Bay Area probably feels more “welcoming” to racial minorities than your average NHL city.

“It puts you a little bit more at ease,” Ward said. “If you want to go out on the town and you see people that look like you, it definitely feels more welcoming.

“You’ve got Oakland, you’ve got San Francisco, so it’s very diverse. I’m sure it will be a different feeling for (Evander).”

To give teammates a sense of what it feels like to be “the other” in a predominantly white culture, Ward used to take his Nashville Predators teammates with him to black clubs.

“Five minutes in, the guys wanted to leave, which is completely fine. It’s a different atmosphere for them,” Ward said. “So then, when I’d complain about going to certain spots, they’d have an understanding of what it’s like for me.”

At this point, Kane is expecting his experience as a racial minority in San Jose to be more similar to his experience growing up in Vancouver and playing in Atlanta. Although San Jose is less than five percent black, it has large Latino and Asian populations; less than 30 percent of its population is white.

“I was in Atlanta for my first two years and those were very smooth years. Then, we got sold to Winnipeg and things changed. I didn’t change, so it’s interesting how things happen,” Kane said, adding: “It’s great that San Jose is so diverse. I’ve heard nothing but positive things.”

But the racial issues that Kane confronted with the Jets aren’t just a Winnipeg thing. The outcry over the money phone, the haircut and the NBA attitude are symptomatic of a larger problem that plagues minority athletes throughout the NHL.

The culture of the NHL dressing room is defined by a faux humility, a reflection of the blue collar Canadian towns that so many of the league’s players call home. In places, such as Hamilton, Ontario, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and Red Deer, Alberta, it’s uncouth to draw attention to oneself, take credit and chest thump.

In hip-hop culture, the NBA and the NFL, showboating, swagger and flair aren’t viewed as unforgivable sins; they add fun, personality and color to the game. That said, when players such as Kane and Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban bring this vibe to the NHL, they get labeled as selfish, narcissistic and cocky.

“It something that’s been done before by many athletes,” Kane said, referring to the money phone incident. “Because I was in Winnipeg, in a Canadian city, it obviously bothered some people. Wes Welker (New England Patriots receiver) is at the Kentucky Derby throwing around money, and he’s considered a great guy. Fun and charismatic.

“If you don’t acknowledge (the racial element) to some degree, you’re living in the shadows. It’s an older mentality and something that (hockey) hasn’t caught up to. There’s nothing wrong with lights, camera, action and embracing the entertainment side of sports. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough guys who want to do that or think it’s important to do that. If you look at the four major sports, that’s why hockey ranks fourth.”

Ward also sees the backlash toward Kane as a reflection of hockey’s lack of diversity.

“The guy was just being himself. I’m sure there was no harm,” Ward said. “Hockey is a different game. It’s a different demographic than a lot of other sports, so when guys do things like that people see it as a no no because that isn’t the norm here.”

Nevertheless, head coach Pete DeBoer is convinced that Kane’s charismatic personality will be allowed to shine in the Sharks locker room. He pointed out that both Brent Burns and Joe Thornton have cultivated larger-than-life personas without alienating their teammates.

“We have a group here that freely expresses themselves in what they wear, their beards and everything else,” the Sharks coach said. “This is definitely a welcoming environment to express yourself that way. At the same time, there’s a high standard of professionalism here that needs to be upheld and Evander’s fit into that perfectly.”

Kane also sees the Sharks locker room as an environment that embraces character as long as the work ethic is there.

“There’s a lot of personality in this room. Burnszie, Jumbo, obviously, you see it and it’s great,” he said. “I think it is a pretty-accepting group.”

 

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ok thanks.  What a joke of an article.  And that Macleans drive-by smear is still haunting Winnipeg I see.  I guess all I can say to Joel Ward  giving Kane a pass here is "wait until next year".  I don't think there's anything wrong with swagger/confidence if you can  back it up with your commitment to the game. That's why Thornton and Burns get away with it.   And that's the problem.  Kane has shown very low commitment to the game, which is why teams don't want him in the locker room.  

I like also how he writes off the entire tracksuit incident, like it was a one-off situation.  That was the final culmination of a lot of frustration with a very selfish team-mate.  

Edited by kelownabomberfan
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4 hours ago, Brandon said:

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/10/racism-winnipeg-and-why-the-sharks-are-a-good-fit-for-evander-kane/

 

Reading the article from the link on the twitter feed to the right....  My eyes could not stop rolling.    

Apparently Winnipeg is super racist... yet no mention about how culturally diverse our city is and how Dustin Byfuglien has had zero issues and is beloved by the city.   

Article glosses over Kane's off ice issues and says his NBA attitude is just misunderstood and nothing at all about him being a selfish bad team mate.   I really can't wait until he wears out his welcome in yet another city. 

Here's hoping for a Jet Shark matchup come this years playoff season . . .

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