DEAR SPORTS: HOW MANY EVANDER KANES ARE OUT THERE?
Preoccupied by a lucrative embrace of legalized gambling, leagues must be vigilant in snuffing out rogues such as Kane, accused by his estranged wife of fixing NHL games by trying to lose for profit
Meet Evander Kane and his angry wife, Anna. They are the reason why we should be alarmed, if not gob-smack frightened, by the new fellowship between legalized gambling, the $600 billion sports industry and panting-like-packdogs media companies.
Has it occurred to all these hellbent money-grabbers that any number of sports people are gambling addicts who — as Kane is accused by his wife — might bet on his own games and intentionally try to lose for profit? And that such schemes, so tortured and desperate, easily could be passed along as inside information to countless other bettors?
Sports has made it abundantly obvious in 2021 that money overrides all other priorities. So why would the Evander Kane story be an outlier? Might it be the norm as championships become less desirable for franchise owners than the maximizing of revenues, fueled by massive gambling partnerships once considered taboo by North American leagues? Why wouldn’t some rogue athletes take advantage of this Wild Wild West mentality and, you know, tank a few games? Or a lot of games?
Kane is an accomplished player in the National Hockey League, in the middle of a seven-year, $49 million contract with the San Jose Sharks. At the very least, he has issues with gambling, apparent in 2019 when he was sued by a Las Vegas Strip casino accusing him of welching on $500,000 in wagering debts incurred during a playoff series with the Golden Knights. That episode should have deeply disturbed commissioner Gary Bettman, yet, somehow, Kane continued playing in dozens of games the next two seasons. The Sharks missed the playoffs both years.
The NHL certainly is in red-alert investigative mode now, terrified after Anna blew a whistle on that dangerous little self-publishing app known as Instagram. Claiming her husband left home for seven days without texting her, then headed to Europe for a party vacation as she sat pregnant at home while a bank was taking back their house — all of which no one ever could make up — she wrote this on what appears to be her verified account:
“How does the NHL let a compulsive gambling addict still play when he's obviously throwing games to win money? Hmm maybe someone needs to address this. … Can someone ask Gary Bettman how they let a player gamble on his own games? Bet and win with bookies on his own games?"
Bitterly, Anna painted a portrait of a rotten husband and father, writing, “Our house is being taken by the bank but (you) do not come home to help your pregnant wife pack or help her with anything at all, you have enough money to party and stay in hotels in Europe and go out to dinners every night, but I can’t buy my daughter formula and u force me to sell my wedding ring to have any money to survive as you party every day every night, never calling your daughter and never asking not even one time how I’m doing myself. I don’t know if there are even words to describe the kind of evil person that you are to abandon your wife who is pregnant with your son and your one year old daughter who walked around the house with her bunny saying dada for a week looking for you. Don’t post old pictures like your (sic) home or like your (sic) with her. Everyone knows what type of person you are.’’
As we pause for deep breaths and the tittering of trolls, there’s just a wee bit to unpack here. Regardless of her marital disenchantment and all the sad reverberations, Mrs. Kane has accused her husband of the ultimate integrity breach by a professional athlete: Trying to fail on the ice as a way of fixing games and making money. She accuses him of betting with bookies, but it requires little imagination to project how such black-market knowledge can make its way into the legal world of sportsbooks and phone apps. The NHL has been so busy cutting deals with gambling interests — Bally’s, PointsBet, MGM, FanDuel, William Hill — that it apparently forgot about Kane’s issues two years ago. Or, conveniently overlooked them.
‘‘The integrity of our game is paramount and the League takes these allegations seriously,’’ the NHL said in a statement Sunday.
Said the Sharks: “We support a full and transparent investigation into the situation to maintain the integrity of the game and consistency with our team values.”
Kane’s lawyers advised him not to comment, but typically, a player with a volatile, troublemaking reputation couldn’t help himself. Opting for Twitter, he described Anna as his “soon-to-be-ex-wife’’ and accused her of telling “lies’’ amid the couple’s divorce proceedings. He added: “I would encourage people to realize that someone who goes to this length to try and jeopardize someone’s career with lies is mentally unwell.’’
Writing that he feels “strongly that the public and fans hear this directly from me,’’ Kane vehemently denied the gambling allegations. “I have NEVER gambled/bet on Hockey, NEVER gambled/bet on a Sharks game, NEVER gambled/bet on any of my games and NEVER thrown a hockey game,” he wrote. “The facts are I personally had my best season of my career last year and was the most consistent I've been throughout any season, I'm proud of that. I love the game of Hockey and would never do any of what was alleged. I look forward to cooperating fully with the league’s investigation, having my name cleared and looking forward to this upcoming season."
As for his family situation, Kane said: ‘‘I love my daughter. I will and always have taken care of my daughter in every way possible. I have always made sure her mother has had everything she's needed and more. I have tried to de-escalate our divorce issues and be as civil and calm as anyone in this position could. I have tried to set up FaceTime calls but not every day as I would like to because of being restricted by her mom. She has refused me to see her and had unfortunately tried to use my daughter as leverage. I will continue to always take care of my family, that goes without question.''
The travails of their marriage aren’t necessarily paramount to the story. What matters is whether Anna Kane is telling the truth and that Evander Kane is the Pete Rose of his time. Major League Baseball punished Rose, the all-time hits career leader, with a lifetime ban about to enter its 33rd year — but hypocritically, MLB has exploited numerous gambling partnerships like the NHL and other leagues.
This is no time to be screwing around with the public trust. If sports is genuinely committed to upholding competitive integrity, the leagues will come down harder than ever on gambling miscreants. But my educated guess in this case? The NHL will look into it, consider it an unfortunate marital spat and allow Kane to suit up with the Sharks next month for training camp.
Just as Bally’s, PointsBet and FanDuel would want it.
Jay Mariotti, called “the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes sports columns for Substack and a Wednesday media column for Barrett Sports Media while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts in production today. He’s an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and radio talk host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects. Compensation for this column is donated to the Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust.