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Blackhawks’ GM Bowman admits disappointment over Patrick Kane’s adventures in Wisconsin

Harrison Mooney

Patrick Kane garnered a lot of attention for his recent trip to Madison, Wisconsin, in which he celebrated Cinco de Mayo with a concerning amount of gusto. Photos and tales of his exploits were all over the Internet for days, from the awesome (the t-shirt depicted above) to the not-so-awesome (getting kicked out of a party for allegedly attempting to "Wayne Brady" a young lady).

The Blackhawks had avoided comment on the situation thus far, but with Stan Bowman on a conference call Tuesday to announce the extensions of Johnny Oduya and Jamal Mayers, Kane's youthful indiscretions came up. From the Chicago Sun-Times:

"Obviously, we are aware of that situation," Bowman said of Kane. "We followed it closely. It was one of those things where we've discussed it with Patrick. We've handled that internally.

"We're obviously disappointed with how it played it out, and Patrick is aware of that fact. But at this point, it's a private matter. I think, out of respect for Patrick, we're not going to comment further. We're going to look forward and try to focus on things in improving our team leading into the summer."

He's hardly the only NHLer going out and partying, but where Kane continually errs is allowing his exploits to be documented on the Internet. From a public relations standpoint, the adventures of Patrick Kane are hardly the Adventures of Rupert Bear. They're neither wholeseome nor endearing, and stories like this hardly soften the blow of two consecutive first-round exits. True or not, they make him look like he doesn't care.

But more than that, there has to be some concern for Kane, that he's gotten a little out of control. We hear everything secondhand, so there's no way of knowing if these stories are true or exaggerated for effect, but at times you wonder if his seeming excess is, well, excessive.

Certainly the Blackhawks felt his latest caper crossed the line. It will be interesting to see if anything else comes from this. Will Chicago's disappointment with Kane act be enough to nudge him towards the trade block?