RUMOR: Blackhawks superstar flip-flops on World Championships

When the Chicago Blackhawks were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs in short order by the Nashville Predators, Sportsnet’s John Shannon reported that Patrick Kane would be joining team USA for the upcoming IIHF World Hockey Championships in Paris and Cologne. But then…Kane confirmed he would not be joining the team.

So, what the heck happened here? Kane’s teammate Artemi Panarin spoke about the situation with Russian Sport-Express hockey writer Igor Eronko, saying “I talked to Kane on IIHF Worlds but couldn’t understand anything with my English. He wanted to play there.” Odd. Another report of Kane wanting to play in Paris, yet declining his invitation.

Whether Kane is suffering through an injury or ailment, or he’s just providing different people with different information, we don’t know for sure. What we do know however is that Panarin will be representing the Hawks in Paris when his Russian squad takes on fellow Hawks teammate Marcus Kruger and team Sweden in the tournament’s opening game on Friday.