[Thursday's FTB]: EKane pushes back against THW

Remember yesterday's story about Evander Kane, written by a contributor to The Hockey Writers? I'm not going to link to it, but it's posted in the comments to the Wednesday FTB. Consensus was that the article was crap, the writer was deluded, and the ten-year-old kid mentioned in it was much more mature than the author was.

One of the "points" of the article was that EKane cast a shadow on the glory of Jets #9 -- Bobby Hull. Our colleague Bruce Peters pointed out very dryly that Kane would probably help elevate the number: "You know, negativity and shame to the number of a man who beat, humiliated and terrified his wife and children."

But most importantly, Evander Kane himself weighed in, calling out the author:

I wish I could write make believe stories like @CarsonShields23 I bet he catfishes people to?
— Evander Kane (@evanderkane_9) May 28, 2015

The author read this tweet and responded, and Kane coolly shared it with everyone who follows him.

I'm not you at Opera brah @evanderkane_9
— Carson Shields (@CarsonShields23) May 28, 2015

Great response hahaha! What do you guys think? https://t.co/58yalJvGhn
— Evander Kane (@evanderkane_9) May 28, 2015

Hmmmm. I can't really help Mr. Kane figure out what the opera comment means, but it's probably synecdoche for the "operatic" levels of rumor that helped spawn his trade to Buffalo.

I think Opera is a nightclub. -- Miss Muse

Oh. Well, I'm glad that hockey players are used to getting endless amounts of shit on the ice -- maybe it helps them brace for the endless amounts of shit from fans? In this case, I think that in his gently exasperated way, #9 got the better of this one.

One further point that we can probably draw from this is that it's continued proof that the internet makes the world very, very small, and hockey players read the stuff on the internet that is written about them. (I mean, we already have proof that Matt Duchene reads PPP.) (Hello, young man! Hope you're enjoying your time off!) Fame sure comes at the price of shoveling through mounds and mounts of bullshit, nowadays.

Good things came of Kane's polite consternation. The Hockey Writers took the article down, AND apologized.

I would like to personally apologize to Evander, the post should not have gone live, it was a mistake in our policies that has been altered.
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) May 28, 2015

And with that, here are today's stories.

Leafs

Rebuilding the Maple Leafs: Part 2 | PPP

The Toronto Maple Leafs haven't stolen John Tavares' skills coach | Lighthouse Hockey

(Leafs will get there eventually, they just have to swing by Tampa first. :p )

Sports Business '15 to Watch': Maple Leafs hire Mike Babcock | CSN Chicago

Patrick Roy praises Mike Babcock's 8-year, $50M deal with Leafs | CBC

(A little Avalanche news for the other #9.)

How does Babcock's hiring impact Kessel, Phaneuf, Franson? | Fox Sports

JVR ‘itching’ to return, play under Mike Babcock | Sportsnet

Toronto Maple Leafs: Re-Drafting The 2010 Class | Editor in Leaf

Memorial Cup

Quebec Remparts 0 Rimouski Oceanic 4 - Got Your Number | PPP

Remparts and Océanic have score to settle | Mem Cup website

Western Conference Final

@StatsCentre Only second time in expansion era both conference finals series are going to 7 games. The first time was 2000: East: NJ def PHI; West: DAL def COL

Duncan Keith leads the way to 5-2 win to force Game 7 | SCH

Ducks' First Regulation Loss Forces Game 7 | AC