Patrick Kane

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Name: Patrick Kane
Also Known As: Kaner, Pat, Peeks, Peekabo, Peeksy, #88
Occupation: hockey player
Medium:
Works: 3 Stanley Cups + 1 Conn Smythe, 1 Olympic silver medal
Official Website(s):
Fan Website(s):
On Fanlore: Related pages

Patrick "Kaner" Kane is a winger for the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL and considered one of the world's best hockey players.

The Person

Kane is a colorful figure.

In 2009, he got into an altercation with a cab driver over a dispute about change, leading to the nickname "twenny cent" and plenty of ribbing both in fic and the media about taking taxis.

He made headlines again when a bunch of shirtless photos of him and teammates partying with girls in a limo were published online.[1] In 2011, Deadspin covered his exploits after a 'lost weekend' in Madison on Cinco de Mayo [2] where Kaner acted like a drunken lout (and in turn spawned a Photoshop meme [3]). Other notable Kaner moments include him growing a 'playoff mullet' in lieu of a beard,[4] getting busted by his mother for reading Twilight,[5] taking the Stanley cup to a Jimmy Buffett concert,[6] importing his mother with him to Switzerland while he was playing there during the 2012-13 lockout,[7] and the Kaner shuffle.[8]

Fandom

He is most often shipped with his captain Jonathan Toews; Kane/Toews is one of the most popular pairings in Hockey RPF. Kane spent the 2012-13 NHL lockout in Switzerland on the same team as then Boston Bruins turned Dallas Stars Center Tyler Seguin, making the pairing popular for a time, or Seguin is occasionally written to be good friends with both Kane and Toews when they are paired together in fic. His close friend and past teammate Patrick Sharp often appears in fic as either a prankster, a mentor, matchmaker, and occasionally they are shipped together (sometimes in threesomes with Sharpy's wife Abby.)

Many fanfics focus on or have mentioned the Cinco de Mayo incident in Madison either in passing or as use for a possible plot line.

Rape Investigation

On August 6, 2015, The Buffalo News reported that Kane was being investigated by Hamburg, NY police for an alleged rape the previous weekend.[9][10][11]

Kane was removed from the cover of the EA Sports NHL 16 video game after the news broke.[12]

On November 5, 2015, the Erie County District Attorney's Office announced that it would not seek to indict Kane, due to "significant material inconsistencies between the complainant’s accounts and those of other witnesses" and other evidentiary problems with the "so-called 'case'" against him. These evidentiary problems included DNA results that "lend no corroboration whatsoever to the complainant’s claim of penetration, a required element of proof for a rape charge," and physical and forensic evidence that "tend to contradict the complainant’s claim that she was raped on Kane’s bed". The District Attorney, Frank A. Sedita III, gave two interviews (transcripts) in which he laid out his view of the evidence and his reasons for declining to press charges.

Fan Reaction to the Allegations

Hockey RPF fandom was shocked and dismayed by the allegations.

Some authors announced immediately on Twitter or Tumblr that they would no longer write stories with Kane as a character, including the abandonment of WIPs. Some other authors felt that the situation was still too fresh and uncertain in the first few days to decide how they would proceed, and still other authors raised the question of whether it could be possible to separate Kane-the-character enough from Kane-the-real-person to still enjoy fanworks featuring the character.

Some authors locked stories on AO3 that had not been previously locked, and others took down or orphaned their works. The total number of Kane/Toews works on AO3 had recently reached 2000, and dropped down to less than 1800 - approximately 10% of AO3 archived works.

A fan wrote a Check Please fanfic[13] wherein character Kent Parson was falsely accused of rape, which some fans perceived as a comment on the investigation. Resulting discussion and wank occurred after the fan deleted all opposing comments, and made her fic an open letter.[14]

The investigation generated much discussion and debate within fandom, especially on the media and the legal process, with lawyers and those with investigative backgrounds providing resources and background knowledge for other fandom members.[15][16][17] There was also debate over the reporting of the case, and in particular, the use of unverified anonymous sources. Some members of fandom believed these sources were necessary and routine parts of the reporting of the case, while others were suspicious of their validity.[18] An investigation timeline was later created, contrasting the events of the case against the media reporting.[19] Posts and articles, both fannish and non-fannish, about the evidence of the case were also created.[20][21][22][23]

The decision not to charge Kane, and in particular, the two interviews given by District Attorney Sedita,[24][25][26][27][28] represented a turning point for many members of fandom who had previously withheld judgement, or gone on hiatus for the duration of the investigation. Some who had decided to cease their participation reversed their decisions. Still others changed their minds about his innocence, but chose to leave fandom anyway.[29] [30] [31]

A divide remains between those who believe in his innocence and those who believe in his guilt. There was a great deal of wank and each side believed themselves to be attacked by the other(s).[32] The continuation of fandom has attracted opposition from those who believe that giving Kane any fannish attention after the allegations is rape apologism. For example, fics including Kane as a character have been explicitly excluded from fic challenges, such as the Hockey Big Bang, to "make this a comfortable space for all involved". However, fics including other players, such as Mike Ribeiro, Mario Lemieux, Slava Voynov, and Evander Kane, who have been accused, charged, arrested, or found guilty of various crimes, such as sexual assault, battery, and domestic violence, have not been excluded.[33]

There was uncertainty about the continuation of Blackhawks fandom in the aftermath of the investigation. However, after the final ruling on the case, a substantial number of fans returned to the fandom, with an organised ‘Birthday Bonanza’ for Kane’s birthday on November 19 being an early catalyst for resumption of writing on AO3. One year after the initial allegations, Kane/Toews has once again arguably become the most active pairing in Hockey RPF fandom,[34] although it has not yet regained its pre-case fic total. Notably, Kane/Toews rarely features as a side-pairing in other Hockey RPF fics where it had previously been popular to include, suggesting that Blackhawks fandom has been at least partially isolated from the perceived ‘mainstream’ of the fandom of the rest of the league.

Many fans deleted their Kane fanworks:

The authors who delete their fic (including me) deleted because we chose to. It was our hard work and talent that went into writing these stories. We didn’t deleted them on a fucking whim or by accident. For most of us, it was painful to decide we needed to delete our fic that featured Patrick Kane.[35]

Resources

References

  1. ^ Patrick Kane Apologizes For Shirtless Photo Flap
  2. ^ Reconstructing Patrick Kane's Drunken Weekend In Madison, With Eyewitness Testimony
  3. ^ Here Are The Best Entries In Our Drunk, Sulking Patrick Kane Photoshop Contest
  4. ^ You Tube
  5. ^ Kane trying to get a read on growing up
  6. ^ The Summer of Kaner Doesn't Really Begin Until Jimmy Buffet Shows Up
  7. ^ Patrick Kane Is Living It Up In Switzerland With His Mom
  8. ^ You Tube
  9. ^ Patrick Kane target of rape investigation, Thursday 6 August 2015.
  10. ^ The woman who said she was raped had accompanied a friend to Kane's home Patrick Kane Investigation: Alleged Rape Victim Wasn't Flirting With Kane at Bar, Went With Friend, Wednesday 12 August 2015.
  11. ^ She went to a local hospital afterwards where a rape kit was performed. Kane under police spotlight: Hockey superstar is subject of rape allegation, Thursday 6 August 2015.
  12. ^ EA Sports pulls Patrick Kane from NHL 16 video game cover amid police probe, Wednesday 12 August 2015.
  13. ^ #GIT PAID by JaneJHills
  14. ^ #GIT PAID: Chapter 2 by JaneJHills
  15. ^ Legal Q&A
  16. ^ Legal analysis of DA's statement
  17. ^ Non-Prosecution vs. Verdict
  18. ^ Response to rookiecolumnist on Journalism
  19. ^ Investigation Timeline
  20. ^ TSN Sports law expert Eric Macramalla: Post-mortem of the Patrick Kane case
  21. ^ Kane Case Conclusions
  22. ^ On the Evidence of the Patrick Kane Case
  23. ^ Mark of Kane Left by Public's Rush to Judgement
  24. ^ WGRZ Interview, Part 1
  25. ^ WGRZ Interview, Part 2
  26. ^ WGRZ Interview, Part 3
  27. ^ WIVB Interview
  28. ^ Transcripts of the two DA interviews
  29. ^ Reflections on the Closure of the Patrick Kane Investigation
  30. ^ On Patrick Kane
  31. ^ I said I’d only accept he’s innocent if he was cleared by DNA. And he was. More than a month ago.
  32. ^ An open letter, of sorts. by svmadelyn, December 22, 2015, is one example of a very controversial post.
  33. ^ Hockey Big Bang 2016 Rules
  34. ^ Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews on AO3
  35. ^ Tumblr, Archived version
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