Antropov displays on Kane’s Jets tenure, Byfuglien incident
It could have been an eye-opening expertise to be a fly on the wall through the Winnipeg Jets’ 2014-15 season.
After lacking the playoffs for a 3rd time since returning to Manitoba, the Jets opened that season with a brand new head coach, Paul Maurice, who led the franchise to its first postseason berth since transferring from Atlanta. However not everybody obtained alongside within the dressing room.
Evander Kane, specifically, reportedly butted heads with several teammates throughout his tenure in Winnipeg, which spanned 4 seasons from 2011-15. He was additionally troublesome to cope with on the Atlanta Thrashers, in line with former NHL ahead Nik Antropov.
Antropov, teammates with Kane from 2009-13, mentioned his earlier encounters with the Edmonton Oilers winger on The Cam & Strick Podcast on Wednesday, recalling the well-known incident when Dustin Byfuglien threw his clothes in the team’s shower.
“He was an 18-year-old, coming from the Western Hockey League, making all this million {dollars},” Antropov stated. “So he was completely different again then. He wouldn’t hearken to anyone, so I suppose that’s why the entire incident occurred. Like Buff threw his sh*t within the f***ing sizzling tub and stuff.
“So he was simply on his personal on a regular basis.”
Kane allegedly wore a tracksuit to a pre-game assembly whereas the Jets had been on the street in Vancouver in February 2015, which he later clarified was a jacket-and-jeans outfit. Nonetheless, it didn’t meet the necessities of the group’s costume code, prompting Byfuglien to confront his teammate.
In line with Kane, the incident despatched him “over the sting.” He ended up sitting out the sport towards the Canucks after reportedly lacking the group’s bus to Rogers Area and skipping a pre-game assembly with out notifying his coaches, who finally reached him an hour earlier than puck drop and had been knowledgeable he would not be displaying up.
On the time, Antropov stated he tried to point out Kane the ropes of doing issues the precise approach, however irrespective of how a lot he continued, the 2019 fourth total decide merely refused to hear.
“Now, I suppose he modified. He grew up [and] he’s obtained a household now,” Antropov continued. “So it’s completely different now. However he was only a younger f**king punk to me. That was my eleventh, twelfth yr within the league. So I attempted to assist.
“He wouldn’t f**king hear again then. So nobody actually had time for him again within the day.”
In the long run, that incident proved to be the ultimate straw for Kane, causing him to request a trade — one thing he did no less than as soon as a season with the Jets. Kane was in the end traded to the Buffalo Sabres later that month.
After two and a half seasons in Buffalo, Kane was traded to the San Jose Sharks, the place he would spend the subsequent 4 seasons.
Kane additionally reportedly clashed with teammates in San Jose earlier than having his contract terminated for violating the NHL and AHL’s COVDI-19 protocol, which earned him a 21-game suspension. Kane finally signed a one-year deal with the Oilers final January and inked a four-year deal within the offseason to stay with the group.
The 31-year-old, who returned from a horrific wrist harm earlier this month, has been a model citizen since touchdown in Edmonton.
Kane has 5 targets and 13 factors whereas averaging 19:05 of ice time throughout 17 video games with the Oilers this season. He missed Wednesday’s contest versus the Columbus Blue Jackets as a consequence of private causes.
Extra from Yahoo Sports activities