Evander Kane ejected for abuse of officials, protests decision as 'absolute joke'
San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane could face supplementary discipline after being ejected from Sunday’s preseason game against the Vegas Golden Knights for abuse of officials.
Kane won’t be taking any further sanctions lightly, blasting the officiating crew for applying a double standard to him.
The incident started off innocuously. Kane collided with Golden Knights defenceman Deryk Engelland and exchanged a series of shoves and slashes. After Kane heads toward Engelland, the referee corrals him and brings him down to the ice. Kane was incensed, spun around and shoved the referee, leading to his ejection.
Here is the play in question:
Evander Kane gets ejected in his last preseason game for "abuse of officials." pic.twitter.com/OAKcqPWf2I
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) September 30, 2019
"I get kicked out of the game for getting jumped from behind by a referee. I've never seen a ref take five strides," Kane said via ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. "If you look at his face, he's getting all this power and he's trying to drive me into the ice, which is what he did. That's unbelievable. Talk about abuse of an official? How about abuse of a player? It's an absolute joke."
“I was just skating up the ice. Minding my own business, and next thing you know, I get driven into the ice by one of the officials. I wasn't even engaged with one of their players. Explain that to me, how I get kicked out of the game for that. Baffling."
Kane believes he’s facing differential treatment from officials, when it comes to his involvement in brief skirmishes.
“It's funny ... if you look at the way I get treated out there when it comes to the scrums, or when the other team is trying to do [something] to me, there's a massive difference compared to everybody else on the ice," Kane said.
An abuse of officials penalty usually carries a 10-game suspension. TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that a suspension likely wouldn’t come down before Tuesday.
E. Kane’s abuse of an official penalty generally carries an automatic 10 game suspension. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will have to confirm and officially enforce the suspension. Unlikely to happen before tomorrow.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) September 30, 2019
San Jose opens the regular season against Vegas on Wednesday. They could be without one of their top forwards, adding an extra layer of bad blood to one of the NHL’s burgeoning rivalries.
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