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Sworn depositions in the Evander Kane case not good for the Sabres forward |
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Evander Kane was arraigned in City Court on charges of disorderly conduct, harassment and criminal trespass last week after turning himself in to Buffalo police. As time goes on, more and more is being released about the incident including sworn depositions from those who filed complaints.
According to Buffalo News writers Lou Michel and Dale Anderson the four, three women and a bouncer, "describe a series of aggressive incidents including grabbing women by the neck and pulling their hair." Each woman, according to the News, said that "Kane grabbed them by "forcibly by the hair" and two of them said "he put his hands on their throat" to the point where they "felt like they couldn't breathe."
Reports have Kane playing celebrity bartender at Bottom's Up on Chippewa St. in downtown Buffalo that night and the whole incident seemed to center around "hooking up," according to the depositions of two of the women.
"He came up to me like he always does,” one woman said. “He said, ‘You’re coming to my house with me and you’re going to like it.’" Another was quoted as saying, “It came out of nowhere,” she said. “I was surprised. I don’t really know him. He kept after me about hooking up. I kept telling him no. He pulled my hair and went off.”
The bouncer at the club said he confronted Kane saying "he got a text message with complaints about you grabbing girls inappropriately."
"I told him to leave," claimed the bouncer. "He pushed me against the register and he was grabbed by me and another security guard. We took him out from behind the bar. He resisted us all the way to the middle of the dance floor. He broke free ... and pushed me again. ... Someone else grabbed Kane and walked him out the back.”
There is a surveillance video of the incident which other employees watched that morning to corroborate the bouncer's statement. Attorney Paul Cambria, who is representing Kane, said that he's seen the video telling the News, “There is more to this than meets the eye.
“I’ve seen the video and, as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t support these statements,” Cambria said.
This is an extremely murky situation for Kane, the Sabres and General Manager Tim Murray. The GM traded for Kane aware of the controversy surrounding Kane when he was a member of the Winnipeg Jets. In doing so he put himself on the line and thus far Kane really hasn't done his boss any favors.
It's the third time Kane has found himself in the news. The first centered around an incident with a female but was never charged then in February he overslept and missed practice after hanging out in Toronto during the NBA All-Star Game.
This latest incident still needs to play itself out but it doesn't shine a very good light on the 24 yr. old, his bosses, the team or ownership. Kane is a young, talented forward who's just entering his prime and on the ice he's widely considered to be all-in. Yet off-ice issues continue to plague him. Rumors of Buffalo entertaining the thought of trading the troubled forward began at the draft that was held in Buffalo the same weekend of the Kane/Bottom's Up incident.
It's hard to believe any team would be interested in trading for Kane at this juncture unless it was at a steep discount to his talent which puts Murray in a tough spot. At the time of the incident Murray was ready to wait until figuring out what the next step would be.
“I don’t know all the details. I don’t know what’s right or wrong," said Murray at the time. "I’m sitting right here, and you can come in and say ‘I’m over there banging my head against the wall,’ I don’t know. The police will investigate. There will be evidence or there won’t be evidence. And it’ll either go forward or it’ll go away.
“If it’s true then we have to deal with it. If it’s false again, then I guess we have to come up with a different plan of attack to make sure that these accusations that may not be true, how do we stop them [from happening]?”
One thing Murray can be pretty sure of, in light of Kane's past, this won't simply "go away" even if Kane and the Sabres eventually part ways.
Thanks to the Buffalo News and their staff for their reporting
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