Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was recently on TSN 1290 in Winnipeg when the subject of Patrick Kane came up — sort of. Kane was the topic being referenced but neither the interviewer or Toews used his name in this particular exchange.
In the interest of giving what Toews said proper context, here is the full transcription of the question and answer, per the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Kuc:
If you have difficulty reading it in that format, here is it again:
Host: “Jonathan, I do want to ask you one question about being the captain of the Blackhawks. Obviously, most people are aware of a situation that has been developing regarding one of your star teammates. Obviously, I won’t ask you to comment on anything like that but when something like that happens during the offseason does your focus as far as dealing with your teammates as well as the media change going into training camp as the captain of the team?”
Toews: “I think you just have to have confidence that things like that will resolve themselves over time. For the time being, you stay together as a team. You support your teammate … uh, teammate, teammates that are maybe going through a rough patch. You saw it last year with some rumors that spread around through social media about several guys in the locker room. It’s not the first time we’ve seen situations like that and eventually you deal with it internally and you stay together as a team and you’re confidence as individuals and as a group that everyone kind of stays together. At the end of the day we always say to each other that what is said and what is done within the locker room is the only thing that matters. We don’t let anything going on on the outside affect the way we do our jobs and the way we come to work together as a team. Again, I get a lot of credit because I have the ‘C’ on my sweater but I think we have a great group of guys who understand what it takes to be a leader, what it takes to be a part of a good team. Clearly it’s more than just what happens on the ice. There’s always a lot of things being said and things going on off the ice but no matter hwat, we do a good job of sticking together.”
Kane is under police investigation for allegedly raping a woman. He hasn’t been charged with a crime at this time.
A recent Chicago Sun-Times report suggested that the organization feels “disrespected” by Kane and that other teams have inquired about his availability. However, the Blackhawks have not asked him to waive his no-trade clause.
Related: Hawks’ biggest question: What happens with Patrick Kane?
