When most people mention Patrick Kane, it is usually in conjunction with Jonathan Toews; however, in recent years, Tyler Seguin has also become an interesting comparison. Not only did they play together in Switzerland during the most recent lockout, last season, both were dynamic right-wingers for original six franchises who had recently won the Stanley Cup, and were competing in the Stanley Cup Finals for their second shot at the cup, all before their 25th birthdays. While Patrick Kane was drafted first overall by Chicago in 2007, Tyler Seguin was drafted second by Boston in 2010. They both made the immediate transition from the OHL to the NHL where they have been in the top three in scoring for their respective teams since the 2011-2012 season, and are currently leading their teams in points this season.
Unfortunately, this is not where the comparisons end for these two young stars; their pasts are also spotted with drunken escapades captured on video, social media scandals and rumoured inappropriate off-ice behaviour.
Patrick Kane first drew the attention of the media in 2009 when he and his cousin supposedly beat a cab driver in Buffalo after a night out in his hometown. Kane eventually pled guilty to noncriminal disorderly conduct charges, and publicly apologized to his family, his hometown, the Blackhawks organization, and his fans. Scandal continued to follow Kane in 2010 when he was photographed, half naked, in the back of a limo, with a couple teammates and some pretty girls, who were notably fully clothed. In 2012, Kane seemed to outdo himself yet again when numerous pictures surfaced after a drunken few days in Madison, Wisconsin during Cinco de Mayo. There were numerous reports of Kane drunk in bars, acting belligerent, hitting on college girls, and generally causing mayhem. Despite his off-ice behaviour, the Blackhawks stuck by their growing star and Kane continues to be a fan favourite within the organization. In recent years, he seems to have settled down and is once again focused on hockey.
Tyler Seguin’s biggest scandal to date has related to social media, more specifically his twitter account. Like many young stars today, Seguin had a twitter account with thousands of followers, and, on three separate occasions, he seemed to tweet homophobic messages. These were immediately picked up, not only by his followers, but also local media, and, in many cases screenshots of the tweets were captured, which served to further spread the news. He denied sending the tweets, claiming his account was hacked, but the scandal was a contributing factor to Seguin being traded this past summer to the Dallas Stars, and eventually led to him shutting down the account. After the trade to Dallas, the Boston media published stories of the Bruins supposed problems with Seguin’s off-ice behaviour; this ranged from allegations of drinking the night before games, showing up to practice hung-over and wearing the same clothes as the previous day, to a bizarre story in which the Bruins had to hire a security guard to watch over Seguin during the playoffs to make sure he wasn’t breaking curfew. Ultimately, because of Seguin’s lack of production on the ice, combined with the drama of his off-ice activities, the Bruins decided to trade a fan favourite and future core player from their franchise.
Many of these supposed “scandals” can be contributed to an over dramatization from the media. Given their fame and fortune, it’s easy to forget that Kane and Seguin are young, inexperienced and living on their own for the first time in their lives. Cab driver incident aside, excessive drinking and inappropriate posts to social media are common among anyone in their early twenties attending university, the difference is that most of us don’t the media watching our every move, publicly documenting any mishaps. I can’t help but wonder whether it would be more advantageous for players to attend university before making the transition to the NHL so that they can make mistakes and mature away from the spotlight and pressures that exist in professional sports.
Jonathan Toews, another star player in the Blackhawks organization, is one of the most respected captains in the NHL who just happens to have attended the University of North Dakota from 2005-2007. In January of 2007, Toews, with TJ Oshie, forward for the St Louis Blues, received alcohol-related citations for underage drinking. They pled guilty to the charges, were placed on probation and ordered to perform community service. I mention this incident because it involves alcohol and two star hockey players, both of whom were drafted in the first round of the NHL, and yet it never made the front page and they never had to apologize or explain their actions. It seems to be understood that they were young, had made a mistake, suffered the consequences and were able to move on. When reporters discuss Jonathan Toews, they never question his ability to lead an original six franchise or his maturity, rather they praise his accomplishments. The mistakes he made at the age of nineteen haven’t followed him throughout his career, and no one questions his character or dedication after a bad game. His past has been allowed to stay in the past.
University can therefore be like the training wheels to the NHL for professional hockey players. It allows them to live on their own, party with friends, learn to set their priorities by balancing their education with playing hockey and training, while sheltering them from media backlash and pressure to win and perform every night. Most of us will discover ourselves in university and college; it’s where we begin to shape our futures and where we are expected to make mistakes. In the real world, you would never be expected to enter a profession at the age of eighteen with the maturity of an adult, so why is it different for professional sports? Why not delay their entry into the league, nurture them in school, push them harder to succeed without the media scrutiny, and allow them to dictate the type of player they want to be on and off the ice when the pressure builds?
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