Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press wonders what might happen next after Jets winger Evander Kane was benched Tuesday for breaking the team’s dress code.
Kane, 23, reportedly showed up for an afternoon team meeting wearing a track suit instead of a real suit. The Jets were not impressed and made him a healthy scratch.
“How Kane takes this treatment will be the subtext of the next chapter,” writes Lawless. “If he accepts he made a mistake and is willing to move forward, we’ll see him back in the lineup as early as [tonight]. If he’s miffed, and decides he’d like to swat back at the organization, Kane does have a card to play. He can elect to shut it down and have surgery on an undisclosed injury.”
Adds Lawless: “It’s long been rumoured Kane wants out of Winnipeg. I don’t know that be true or false. But we just might get that answer once and for all.”
•••
Bobby Pelletier of The Hockey Writers website is challenging some of the myths surrounding the Stanley Cup-contending Montreal Canadiens.
The first myth? That Michel Therrien is an awful coach.
“With the Canadiens having the most raw talent since the early 90s, the ire of fans has fallen on the bench boss,” writes Pelletier.
But “NHL players are not pawns on a chess board. They are very much their own man deciding their actions on the ice. Young men, learning on the job. Therrien can hammer the point home as much as he likes but it will always be up to the player with the puck to decide what is the right thing to do.”
•••
With their rivals in Edmonton building a modern arena, the Calgary Flames are eager for a brand new home of their own, reports Allan Maki in the Globe and Mail.
The Flames “have been quietly preparing their own bid for a new arena,” though up till now “those plans have been treated like state secrets; no one in the organization has made any detailed public comment.
“But there is no doubt the Flames are moving ahead on their arena project, pleased by the fact their on-ice performance has been a lot better than expected” this season.
Flames president and CEO Ken King told Maki that a new arena plan “is critical to the ongoing sustainability and vitality of this team in this city.”
Added King: “It’s a high priority. We’ve been very careful not going to the public until we have everything lined up.”
•••
Three lacklustre Canadian-based clubs are getting in on the Connor McDavid sweepstakes.
According to NHLlotterysimulator.com, the Buffalo Sabres, as of mid-week, had a 20 per cent chance of getting the first pick at this year’s draft, a pick that will certainly be used to pick the phenom McDavid.
But McDavid could also end up in Edmonton, Toronto or Ottawa. The website gave the Oilers a 13.5 per cent chance, the Leafs a 7.5 per cent chance and the Sens a six per cent chance.
