Evander Kane gets last laugh on Winnipeg Jets’ ‘Track Suit Night’ (Gallery)

Before making his return to Winnipeg for the first time as a member of the Buffalo Sabres, Evander Kane kept saying it was just another game.

“I’m going into it preparing as if we were playing any other team in the league. We’re on a six-game slide here, so I’m looking for two points,” said Kane.

But of course it wasn’t just another game – it was controversial former Jet coming back to the ‘Peg after an infamous, contentious divorce. And it wasn’t just another two points that the Sabres gained in their 4-2 win over the Jets on Saturday afternoon – not when Jets fans were in the stands in track suits, shower caps and using money phones.

“I didn’t know what to expect. It really had no bearing on what I thought, or how I played,” he said on Sunday.

To review: In Feb. 2015, Evander Kane allegedly showed up to a Jets team meeting in a “tracksuit.” To send a message to his teammate, Dustin Byfuglien allegedly threw said tracksuit into a cold tub. That allegedly drove Kane to leave the rink and miss the team’s game that night. He shut down his season for surgery, and was subsequently traded to the Buffalo Sabres in a blockbuster. After the deal, Kane revealed that he had demanded a trade out of Winnipeg during every offseason since he relocated there with the Atlanta Thrashers.

Jets fans had been anticipating this return by Kane for quite some time, creating the “#TrackSuitNight” hashtag months in advance. They showed up to the game in tracksuits, and also referenced other moments of infamy in Kane's history with the Jets (such as the Las Vegas "Money Phone" image).

Some of the highlights:

And ...

And ...

And ...

And ...

And ...

And ...

And ...

The Jets fans booed Kane whenever he touched the puck – although he did elicit a chuckle when he took a tumble during warm-ups. “It was all part of the plan. I was looking to get some cheers out of the crowd," he said.

To make their statement all the starker, they cheered the other player sent to the Sabres, Zach Bogosian, when he touched the puck.

They chanted “Kane, You Suck!” They chanted “Take a Shower!” They chanted many things.

They cheered when Byfuglien lined Kane up and knocked him down with an open-ice hit.

Kane had a chance to respond to all of this at the end of the game, with Buffalo on its way to a win. He had the puck with an empty net in front of him, the ultimate kiss-off to the Jets fans that mocked him just a shot away.

But instead, he dished the puck to teammate Sam Reinhart, who completed his hat trick.

“I’ve never scored a hat trick in this league. He’s a young kid, rookie year, I might as well hit him with a pass," said Kane.

The ‘selfish, arrogant’ guy, passing up a goal so his teammate could score.

There probably wasn’t a better way for Evander Kane to send Jets fans walking back to their cars in their tracksuits.

All Kane quotes via Illegal Curve.

--

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

MORE FROM YAHOO SPORTS