Evander Kane: "I asked for a trade every offseason in Winnipeg"

[icecube]

http://www.arcticicehockey.com/2013/...kane-pk-subban

That wasn't too difficult

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by icecube

http://www.arcticicehockey.com/2013/...kane-pk-subban

That wasn't too difficult

That article was such a joke. Insinuating Pang was being racist? Give me an effin break. I remember watching that spot live and Paner apologizing like crazy after the commercial break because I'm sure all the PC Principal's phoned in after his grammatical mistake, not a racist remark.


As far as the rest of the article, if fans are racist that is NOT the NHL. That is just a racist ignorant #### being a racist ignorant ####. That doesn't mean the NHL is racist.

[icecube]

Anyway back to my original point which was how racism isn't necessarily OVERT anymore and how stupid a claim it is to say that it's nonexistent when you have no way of knowing that whatsoever. Especially in such an inbred old boys club like a professional sports league. Neither of us know one way or the other I guess.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by icecube

Anyway back to my original point which was how racism isn't necessarily OVERT anymore and how stupid a claim it is to say that it's nonexistent when you have no way of knowing that whatsoever. Especially in such an inbred old boys club like a professional sports league. Neither of us know one way or the other I guess.

This is also such crap.

If you are an owner/president/GM/coach/trainer do you honestly care one tiny bit what race a player is? Like at all? If the racism was existent, wouldn't a guy like Iggy, Kane or Subban been passed over in the draft?

The closest thing the "racism" in the NHL is probably GMs or Presidents who are wary about signing/drafting Russian players who might bolt to the KHL. I would hardly call that racism though. Just business.

[2macinnis2]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

This is also such crap.

If you are an owner/president/GM/coach/trainer do you honestly care one tiny bit what race a player is? Like at all? If the racism was existent, wouldn't a guy like Iggy, Kane or Subban been passed over in the draft?

The closest thing the "racism" in the NHL is probably GMs or Presidents who are wary about signing/drafting Russian players who might bolt to the KHL. I would hardly call that racism though. Just business.

I get where you're coming from but it's not that simple. Just because talents like Iginla or Subban may be drafted high, it doesn't mean that all staff, coaches, teammates and management will treat them exactly the same as white players once they're actually all on the team.

I think it's fairly naive to believe that racism doesn't exist on some varying but likely overall low level in sports, especially a very white sport like hockey.

[icecube]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

This is also such crap.

If you are an owner/president/GM/coach/trainer do you honestly care one tiny bit what race a player is? Like at all? If the racism was existent, wouldn't a guy like Iggy, Kane or Subban been passed over in the draft?

The closest thing the "racism" in the NHL is probably GMs or Presidents who are wary about signing/drafting Russian players who might bolt to the KHL. I would hardly call that racism though. Just business.

Why don't you ask Donald Sterling or Bruce Levenson what they think on the matter?

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by 2macinnis2

I get where you're coming from but it's not that simple. Just because talents like Iginla or Subban may be drafted high, it doesn't mean that all staff, coaches, teammates and management will treat them exactly the same as white players once they're actually all on the team.

I think it's fairly naive to believe that racism doesn't exist on some varying but likely overall low level in sports, especially a very white sport like hockey.

I don't doubt racism exists in lower levels of hockey/sport.

I just have a hard time believing that management, coaching and ownership would in any way whatsoever treat a player differently based on race in the NHL. Winning is the only thing that counts at that high of a level.

Racist fans? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean there is racism institutionalized in the NHL.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by icecube

Why don't you ask Donald Sterling or Bruce Levenson what they think on the matter?

Go ahead and ask Donald Sterling. Do you think that he tells his GMs to try avoid drafting black players or signing them? Or to make sure they are treated differently?

He tells his GM to win. Period.

What he does with his girlfriend and wife are different than what he does to his players.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Maybe you should have tried to get along with your teammates better instead of worrying about a feature that technically doesn't exist.

This is a narrative but isn't necessarily true. Some genetic research over the past decade or so has suggested that as uncomfortable as it may be, there are differences between racial populations largely as a result of evolution - characteristics may be selected for differently in different climates and regions where people of different racial backgrounds originate, which isn't terribly surprising in principle. So while it's a nice meme that race is a social construct or imaginary it might actually be false.

Totally irrelevant to this discussion, obviously.

[AcGold]

I think way too much hate gets thrown at this guy. Athletes have killed people, owned dog fighting rings, hitn runs, duis, rape... the dude didn't like his team and was vocal about it.

Don't see how people can rationally hate someone so much for that. He's got talk too much when you should stfu syndrome, I've met tons of people like that, they aren't rare and more often than not it's self sabotage at worst.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

This is a narrative but isn't necessarily true. Some genetic research over the past decade or so has suggested that as uncomfortable as it may be, there are differences between racial populations largely as a result of evolution - characteristics may be selected for differently in different climates and regions where people of different racial backgrounds originate, which isn't terribly surprising in principle. So while it's a nice meme that race is a social construct or imaginary it might actually be false.

Totally irrelevant to this discussion, obviously.

That's literally what he says in the quote.

Fact remains, we are all still classified as the same species, despite very slight genetic adaptations to our environment.

The point of the quote is that genetically we are almost identical to each other, and to differentiate based on a slightly darker shade of skin tone is missing the big picture. The differences are literally skin deep (I mean the appropriate use of the word literally, not the secondary definition). To not recognize each other as belonging to the same group is erroneous. "Plain simple" as a much smarter man than I would say.

[AcGold]

Genetically it's more than skin deep as evidenced by the DNA testing on Jamaicans and Usain Bolt. That doesn't mean we aren't the same race. Genetic variation is ideal for the survival of the species, rallying against it is counter intuitive.

[Locke]

nm

[Illuminaughty]

Originally Posted by MattyC

^^^ But it's kind of beside the point, Hackey. I think we would all agree that Kane has likely experienced racism throughout his life. However, by framing it the way he does, it implies that you are racist if you don't like him. He's giving himself that excuse for acting like complete knob. "Evander, you're being an a**hole" "You just hate me cuz I'm black!" "Ummmm..."

Who is really perpetuating the issue of race here? Again, I'm sure he's experienced pretty much anywhere he's gone, but it's not an excuse to act like a dbag and apply the race card to everyone who dislikes you. When you act like a dbag, people hate you for that, not because of the color of your skin.

I agree with most of what your saying, however, it's easy to sit here as a white guy on an internet forum and say he's just playing the race card, we don't know what he was dealing with on the day to day. As Hackey pointed out racism can be very subtle and hard to notice unless your the one being discriminated upon.

[Illuminaughty]

Originally Posted by adc

I don't need to pretend anything I know it didn't which is why you can't come up with examples.

This isn't even up for debate, if you can't see why young brash cocky black men aren't held in high regard in a predominantly white sport such as hockey, you are just not paying attention.

I never understood why PK took so much flak in the media years ago, he's a great player and obviously a great person, what could it have been.

To me I wish more players would show more personality, it's good for the game. But I understand why they don't.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Illuminaughty

This isn't even up for debate, if you can't see why young brash cocky black men aren't held in high regard in a predominantly white sport such as hockey, you are just not paying attention.

I never understood why PK took so much flak in the media years ago, he's a great player and obviously a great person, what could it have been.

To me I wish more players would show more personality, it's good for the game. But I understand why they don't.

So that PK is pretty much universally loved now, what does that mean? Nothing?

That article was pretty terrible, btw - at least in spots. It suggested that using a word like flamboyant to describe PK is subtly racist in nature? That is ridiculous. PK is awesomely, wonderfully flamboyant - it's just his personality, and I love it. He is literally revered here in Montreal.

Edit to add: if you asked NHL brass who the #1 ambassador for the game was, I bet they would universally (at least privately) say Subban. If you polled fans across the league, I think he would win handily as well. Is at least some small part of that because he is black? Probably. Is that therefore racist? I have no idea

[Illuminaughty]

Yeah PK eventually won everybody over, but at first people were saying that they'd wish he'd just cut all the extra crap and play.

[adc]

Originally Posted by Illuminaughty

Yeah PK eventually won everybody over, but at first people were saying that they'd wish he'd just cut all the extra crap and play.

Sounds a lot like what those racists said about Alex Ovechkin.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

This is also such crap.

If you are an owner/president/GM/coach/trainer do you honestly care one tiny bit what race a player is? Like at all? If the racism was existent, wouldn't a guy like Iggy, Kane or Subban been passed over in the draft?

The closest thing the "racism" in the NHL is probably GMs or Presidents who are wary about signing/drafting Russian players who might bolt to the KHL. I would hardly call that racism though. Just business.

Ever heard of Donald Sterling? People don't advertise to the world that their racist. Unless of course your the guy throwing a banana at Wayne Simmonds or Kevin Weekes.

[Illuminaughty]

Originally Posted by adc

Sounds a lot like what those racists said about Alex Ovechkin.

It wasn't just Don Cherry saying that, their were other talking heads. I think once he won the Norris, people changed their tune.

The old school guys seem to like the players to be pretty vanilla in terms of the their personalities, that's why very few players can give a good interview.