from Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports,

There is no denying Kane’s talent or star appeal. The Blackhawks are the biggest draw across the NHL and Kane is the biggest reason for that attention, but he also brought negative attention to the league long before last summer’s three-month investigation into a sexual assault allegation against him in his hometown of Hamburg, N.Y. No charges were filed in that case and district attorney Frank Sedita eventually dismissed it as a sham after some bizarre twists called into question the validity of the alleged victim’s claims.

Here’s the simple version. Kane was exonerated of all wrongdoing in the eyes of the law. He shouldn’t continually have to answer for a crime the law says he didn’t commit.

The problem? It’s not that simple. Whether charges were filed or not, nobody, repeat nobody will ever know what really happened in that room that night except for Kane and his accuser.

It was grossly irresponsible of many fans and some media members to assume Kane’s guilt before all the facts were presented and the case unfolded. It is also sad and deplorable that Kane’s case may deter future victims of sexual assault from coming forward after witnessing the biased, uninformed and grotesquely inappropriate things many fans said of the alleged victim, again, before all the facts were presented and the case unfolded.

Maybe you think this won’t matter by the time the hardware is hoisted at the NHL Award Ceremony in June in Las Vegas, but for a segment of the population, Kane’s immature and irresponsible behavior is reason enough to dislike the Chicago star and hope he doesn’t win, even if he wasn’t found guilty.

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FYI- The PHWA votes for the Hart Trophy.