Evander Kane gets dragged back into massive gambling scandal

On Thursday, the FBI announced the arrest of more than 30 people in connection with a pair of alleged gambling rings on charges of conspiring to commit fraud, money laundering, illegal gambling and extortion. Among those arrested were Basketball Hall of Famer and current Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups , Miami Heat guard and 10-year NBA veteran Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and coach Damon Jones. The NBA’s gambling scandal has rocked the sports world, including the NHL, and it was only a matter of time before fans thought about Vancouver Canucks’ Evander Kane and his recent controversial picture after an evening out with FBI director Kash Patel.

Some fans made the quick assumption that Kane might have provided information to Patel as the Canuck’s name was trending alongside the details of the NBA’s scandal.

You also probably already know that his ex-wife Anna Kane, who was with him back when Kane was accused of gambling on NHL games, exposed him once again on her Instagram account, hinting at the possibilities that not only Kane could be involved in the latest scandal, but worse, that he could have snitched on other athletes to get immunity.

However, this is all rumours and assumptions. When asked about the gambling scandal and the impact on the NHL, Chris Johnston explained on Insider Trading on TSN that commissioner Gary Bettman is not worried about his players being involved in such a high-profile case.

“And then in the NHL’s case, I don’t expect them to maybe formally sent around a memo to teams or anything reminding anyone of policies. But a big reason for that is because a lot of those things have been discussed recently at length as part of the collective bargaining extension that was done back in the spring and through the summertime.”

Elliotte Friedman also spoke with Bettman and provided this quote in his latest 32 Thoughts on Sportsnet:

“The fact is the incident we had, (it) had nothing to do with betting on hockey,” Bettman replied. “I really have confidence in our game, the integrity of our game, and the integrity that our players and all of our personnel bring to the game. If you look at the nature of our game, it’s not really susceptible to outside influences and our players play hard and to win every night. We know we have to be very mindful and we can’t take anything for granted, but I have confidence in what we do.”

Upon hearing about the gambling scandal, it was almost expected that Kane’s name would be brought up. He has a history of gambling, including public acknowledgment of a gambling addiction, a lawsuit for not paying a casino debt, and bankruptcy filings that listed significant gambling losses. He was also the subject of an NHL investigation for gambling on his own games, but was cleared of the charges.

However, with his latest viral picture with Patel and his past issues with money, it was obvious that some people, including Anna Kane, were going to raise questions about his involvement.