Evander Kane controversy rages after healthy scratch in hometown

“VanCity.”

That was the message from Evander Kane on Twitter upon arriving in Vancouver with the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday morning. He’s a Vancouver native who played his junior days with the Vancouver Giants. His homecoming? Always kind of a big deal.

An even bigger deal? Not playing in the Jets’ overtime loss to the Canucks on Tuesday night, as a result of a healthy scratch.

What’s the deal? Coach Paul Maurice isn’t saying. From the Winnipeg Free Press:

"Coaches decision not to be in the lineup tonight," Maurice said after a 3-2 overtime loss to the Canucks at Rogers Arena pushed Winnipeg’s losing streak to a season-high five games but at least salvaged the Jets a much needed point. 

Asked if he cared to expand on his answer, Maurice bristled. "What do you think the chances of you getting more are? We work together."

Asked if it was any more difficult to sit down one of his most productive players in recent weeks given Winnipeg’s current losing streak, Maurice replied: "I’ve just been doing this long enough that most of these aren’t that difficult to do."

It’s the second time Kane’s been a healthy scratch under Maurice, having been pulled from a game in Toronto last season.

Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun guesses “disciplinary reasons” for the scratch:

Kane's tenure with the Jets has been filled with trade rumours and Twitter controversies (real and imagined) but this season, the left-winger had been doing a pretty good job of keeping the focus on the ice. 

Despite spending a good chunk of the season on the third line after dealing with some injury woes, Kane has continued to play hard and blossomed into a strong penalty killer.

But if the decision to sit him out was related to discipline, that's a concern for the Jets, given the importance of Tuesday's game against a team chasing them in the standings – not to mention the fact the Jets were in the midst of a four-game losing skid.

All of this presumably brings us closer to the end of Evander Kane’s tenure in Winnipeg, something long overdue. He’s signed at $5.25 million through 2018. He’s the kind of young talent that other teams covet. The Jets can get back multiple pieces for him.

Oh, right, that would require Kevin Cheveldayoff to make a trade involving NHL players. Forget it…

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