Sabres’ Evander Kane Has Been Rehabilitated, Will Return After One Game Suspension
Evander Kane of the Buffalo Sabres was suspended for one game after missing practice after attending the NBA All Star Game and partying the night away afterwards. Although Kane has still not explained *why* he wanted to attend the NBA All Star Game, he’s apparently learned his lesson about missing practice. After missing Monday’s 2-1 loss at Ottawa he’s been reinstated by the team and will be in the lineup for the Sabres’ game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.
Kane was run out of Winnipeg for his cavalier attitude toward team rules, wearing a track suit to a team meeting when it was expressly prohibited being the last straw. He was brought into Buffalo for among other things to help set an example for the Sabres’ talented young players. At the very least, Kane is teaching them how to give a convincing mea culpa after they do something wrong: “It was 100 percent my responsibility to make sure I’m at the rink and I’m on time. I take full responsibility for my actions and I’m accountable for those. I paid the consequences. For me, it’s a lesson and it’s something I’m not going let happen again.”
Head coach Dan Bylsma called Kane’s behavior “a disappointment” when the suspension was announced. He’s hoping Kane walks the straight and narrow from here on out: “I have great optimism that it’s a lesson learned to be quite frank,” Bylsma said. “But it’s one that he has to also start to continue to show that he has learned that lesson. So I’m extremely optimistic that’s the direction he’s headed in.”
Kane has called his move to Buffalo a ‘fresh start’ and says that he doesn’t want a reputation as a troublemaker: “It’s not a trend that I want to be a part of. Going forward, I’m going to be focusing on hockey as I always have, and try to be at my best each and every game for the remainder of the season.”
Kane has 16 goals and eight assists this season playing on Buffalo’s top line with Daniel Catenacci and Sam Reinhart. His 21 minutes per game is second among Sabres’ forwards.