Peng to the Point
What Should Evander Kane’s Next Step Be?

Every Sunday at Peng to the Point, we talk about the world away from the San Jose Sharks.
“You throw like a girl.”
I’ve used that insult on the playground.
“Sedin Sisters.” “Cindy Crosby.” “Katy Perry.”
I was an adult, they were tired jokes I didn’t use, but I also didn’t say anything when I heard them.
“Always good to see the Reaves sisters chime in and try to hop on the coat tails,” Evander Kane wrote in a now-deleted tweet to Ryan and Jordan Reaves.
Enough.
During the summer, Kane, as a co-founder of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, helped bring hockey culture forward. One of the HDA’s aims, according to the group’s official website, is to “work to ensure hockey is accessible to anyone who loves the game.” In that tweet, Kane helped bring the sport back to an all-too-familiar place — not welcoming for everyone.
I’ll let someone else explain, in greater depth, why these insults are problematic. But simply put, they portray femininity as a negative, while feeding into a stereotype — femininity in sports is bad — that’s an outdated obstacle for women and girls to overcome.
Will Kane learn the lesson?
I used a term that was sexist in a earlier tweet. My intention wasn’t for it to come across that way at alI. I would like to apologize for using that term and to anyone who was offended by it. But remember no ones perfect, especially if your on Twitter.
— Evander Kane (@evanderkane_9) November 30, 2020
This apology, flawed as it is, is a start.
But of course, it’s not just about words, it’s about actions.
One obvious and overdue action would be the inclusion of a female hockey player of color to the HDA.
In another recent tweet, Evander Kane said he was all “about that action”. Let’s hope, besides challenging a YouTube celebrity to a fight, that action includes changing the sport of hockey for the better not just for male players of color, but for everyone.
His apology rings more hollow when you check his likes. It’s littered with him liking replies that offer support for his original tweet, saying it wasn’t sexist and people need to calm down. I am certain that his agent or social media advisor told him to write that apology and he doesn’t care about it one bit.
I like Evander. I really do. But sometimes it feels like two steps forward, three steps back with him. That said, as a hockey fan, especially a Sharks fan, the Twitter exchanges between EK9 and Reevo amuse me (especially during the season and right before we play Vegas). And truth be told, sometimes that makes me wonder if I am not part of the problem also. We all have room to be better. I dare say that we all have been guilty of throwing less than flattering words in another person’s direction. Owning your mistake and apologizing for it goes… Read more »
Thanks for the thoughtful response, Alicia!