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Thoughts from the Evander Kane introductory presser |
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I can't remember the last time the Sabres had an introductory press conference for a player they'd traded for.
Perhaps we may need to go back to Chris Drury and the big three-way trade that brought him to Buffalo in July, 2003. Drury, of course, had a Stanley Cup ring earned with the 2000-01 Colorado Avalanche and also had the distinction of being the winning pitcher in the 1989 Little League World Series playing for his hometown of Trumbull, CT.
But today we had the opportunity to get acquainted (somewhat) with Evander Kane, the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade consummated by Sabres GM Tim Murray and his counterpart in Winnipeg, Kevin Cheveldayoff on February 11, 2015.
Kane made his first appearance in Buffalo last night watching from the pressbox as the Sabres were thwarted by the NY Rangers 3-1. He did an interview with WGR550 and was interviewed by Dan Dunleavy of Sabres.com and about the only thing we got out of either (no disrespect intended) is that Dunleavy loved Kane's duds as well as his shoes which Kane revealed as Jimmy Choo's.
Not that much should be expected in situations like that other than, obviously, often times someone using the word, "obviously" too much as well as the many generalizations that could be applied to any big-name player meeting the press for his new team.
Today's presser was similar to that, although there was the opportunity for some members of the media to try and investigate the circumstances surrounding his departure from Winnipeg and like most individuals involved in a situation usually do, Kane preferred to keep it "in house."
When asked by one reporter if it was true about the whole jogger-suit situation Kane denied it and said "Obviously (there's that word again) it was a situation that was unique and fun for some people." And who was having fun? "Probably fun for the media," he said with smile coming through his words, "not fun for others.
“I was playing hurt with a majority of injuries through the course of the season and it took a toll.” Kane added, “It was just speculation I mean I’m not going to really get into the details of what happened. Was I wearing a track suit, no, but it’s something that tends to get blown out of proportion, especially playing in a Canadian market and there have been numerous things that have happened in the past that are completely false.”
Last night Kane was lookin' sharp in his spiffy suit and his fancy shoes. He's a very confident individual who could easily be dubbed as cocky. At the presser today he dressed down but some of that confidence came out whimsical fashion as Kane answered a question as to whether the events surrounding his departure in Winnipeg had taken a piece out of him. "The only thing that took a piece out of me was the surgery," he said as the sounds of laughter lightened up the room.
The surgery alluded to was for a torn labrum Kane suffered this season. He said that the surgery went well and although it ended up "being complicated--there was a hole in my shoulder as well--but everything's fixed and good to go now."
Complicated could be the word to describe his time in the "fishbowl," as he described it, that is Winnipeg. He referred to his time there as being in a small Canadian town with a large interest in hockey and where everyone he meets wants to talk Jets-hockey. In a lot of ways that's what he'll be getting into when he plays in Buffalo. In fact the aforementioned Drury as well as the departed Miller had mentioned being recognized and approached in Buffalo area supermarkets to talk hockey.
He ain't getting away from that in Buffalo, but what he will be getting away from is the intense scrutiny of hockey as the nation's game.
Football and baseball rule in the States and since there is no major league baseball team in Buffalo, football rules. The Bills are on the rise and have an attention-grabbing head coach that will get most of the headlines. Rex Ryan just left the media frenzy that was in New York City and knows how to deflect issues away from his team.
The Sabres will also benefit from that deflection. Even now the fanbase has taken a kinder, gentler approach to what they're going through during this very difficult rebuilding process and intense scrutiny is on the back burner. Although it won't last forever, a lot of slack will be cut to GM Tim Murray and the team he's icing for the next 18 months or so.
Fans know the score, and so does Kane. "No team or organization wants to go through this and as players you're not trying to finish in last place. Everyone has that hunger to get better. I think they're doing everything they can to turn it around. I don’t think they’re going to be sitting around trying to wait years and years and years to rebuild this thing," said Kane of what's transpiring, "I think they’re trying to do it as soon as possible.”
And that includes a bevy of young players topped off by what could be a top-two pick in this year's draft. "I think they're headed in the right direction and getting a top pick will only speed it up," said Kane of the present travails and the light at the end of the tunnel. "They have lots of good prospects and, obviously, when players get better that helps too so hopefully we can all get better."
Better is the operative word right now and it's one thing the team is not doing. There are a lot of changes going on with more to come. Murray has purged nearly all of what's left of his predecessor's NHL talent and has been replacing it with a mix of youngins and veterans to his liking. This tear-down and build up is normally a very long process and usually doesn't involve the rebuilding team sending quality young assets and a first round pick away in a blockbuster deal.
But Murray did just that as opportunity knocked.
It's a unique situation and Kane's in a unique position as he's not on the ice for an historically bad hockey team this season. "I'm already looking forward to next year while they're still playing," he said about being injured and having to watch his new team, "it's kind of tough to balance that."
What it comes down to for Kane is how he'll adjust. He's had plenty of adjustments to make in his short NHL career as success has eluded his teams, and plenty of well-documented issues have arisen recently, maybe because of it.
Kane was a part of the 2007 Memorial Cup-winning Vancouver Giants. He won the gold with Canada at the 2008 U-18's and a gold with Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championships. As one of the best prospects in the 2009 NHL Draft he ended up going to one of the worst teams in the league, the Atlanta Thrashers. Less that a year after drafting Kane, the Thrashers traded away the centerpiece of their organization, Ilya Kovalchuk, because they couldn't re-sign him. And just over a year after that February 4, 2010 trade, the franchise packed up and moved to Winnipeg.
In Kane's five NHL seasons prior to this season, his Thrashers and Jets teams hovered around the .500 mark and never made the playoffs. In 2012 the proverbial s--t was beginning to hit the fan concerning Kane and some of his off-ice antics. It's no wonder that at the press conference he admitted that "it was tough not winning at [the NHL] level" and that he'd "asked for a trade for a while. I guess it was long overdue," he said of the trade to Buffalo.
With a new city and a new team comes a new opportunity. "[Buffalo] hasn't been going that great," he admitted, "but it's on the up. I'm optimistic going forward.
"I'm definitely excited to have a fresh start and moving on to bigger and better things."
Those "bigger and better things" won't get started until training camp for Kane as a summer of rehabbing (which he'll do in Vancouver) and putting the past to rest will garner most of his attention. That and what the Sabres do with personnel moving forward.
You got the sense that he just wants to move on from the turmoil that surrounded him for the last few years. He's a hockey player with the skill to make a lot of money. But he's also a kid who has some maturing to do. He didn't maim or kill anyone, he didn't publicly berate ownership or management, didn't get punch a fan in the head or anything like that. But he may be convicted of being little too "image-conscious" with his fancy suits, designer shoes, money phone and all.
“I’m not concerned about it at all," he said of any baggage, perceived or real. "I know the type of player and type of guy I am, the people that are around me and manage me know that as well and that’s what matters the most.
"The (Buffalo) organization has been fantastic in how they've treated me so far. I'm really happy, my parents are happy and that's always a good thing as well."
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