Patrick Kane’s reputation forever tarnished?

Before I give you my opinion on the ridiculous story that is Patrick Kane and his cousin beating up an older cabdriver, I feel like I should include these comments from James Mirtle regarding this situation:

If all of this is true, Kane has embarassed himself, and frankly, he’s embarassed me as someone who follows hockey and, naively perhaps, believes NHL players are generally better than stunts like this and some of the nonsense we see in other sports.

These are serious charges, and I don’t think they’ll just go away. Nor should they.

I wholeheartedly agree with James.  This situation is absurd.  The fact that he and his cousin allegedly assaulted an older man over the small dollar amount of twenty cents is not for believing.  That amount of money is nothing for you and I, and it is even less significant for someone like Kane who makes upwards of a couple million dollars a season. 

This allegation smacks of Kane believing himself to be above the law.  I know some wild 20 or 21 year olds, but they don’t go around beating up older cabdrivers over twenty cents.  Never mind the fact that he should have tipped the cabdriver the $1.20 to begin with.  Or the fact that he represents the Chicago Blackhawks, EA Sports (as the coverboy of NHL 2010), Team USA and the City of Buffalo.

Kane has a responsibility to all these organizations and the City of Buffalo to represent himself the right way.  It is not asking too much. 

Also, I don’t care if he was drunk.  Just because someone is drunk doesn’t mean they have more room to go around beating down allegedly innocent cabbies.

Something is missing here.  Either we are not getting the full story, or Patrick Kane lacks a distinct sense of reality.