I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people think that way, but personally if I cared that much about how the athletes screw up their personal lives, I would view such events as making the NHL look bad, instead of the athletes/teams. Assume the worst and Kane is charged, do you think the NHL is ignoring/supporting violence?
Considering Kane is a dude that punched a cabbie over $0.10, I'm not sure how this comes as a surprise to anyone. No one has ever accused him of being a stand up guy. There was a YouTube of him that used to be out there where he was at a college party telling girls if they're hot enough to sleep with him. My point being it should be shocking to no one to find out Kane is a dirtbag, even if he isn't a rapist (it seems likely that he is, IMO). If he is charged, I don't think he will be allowed to play in the NHL unless or until the charges are dismissed or he's found not guilty. Anything else, and I don't think you'll see much of him for the time being. The NHL has been imperfect, but at least a lot more proactive in suspending players with legal problems, especially those of the violence-against-women type. This piece is a bit dramatic, and apparently written by a guy who doesn't seem to know much about the NHL or Patty Kane pre-2009, so I'm not sure how much I would read into it.
I mean because I'm not surprised this happened, I see it as an example of the NHL supporting it. As an extreme example, if 100% of their players except for 'my team' are getting charged for stuff like this, and the NHL just shrugs their shoulders on the topic, that's reason enough for me to stop watching. By watching, I trust their judgement in players and that overall they're not a notably 'dirtbag' organisation when unfortunate things happen.
I disagree. They suspended a player last year indefinitely for allegedly beating his wife. They aren't the NFL. They can't suspend someone on rumor, but they will minute one if the DA brings charges against him, even if he is one of the biggest stars playing in one of the biggest markets. I think that generally, the NHL has a fairly clean culture, but they also have hundreds of players (about 700 active players at any given moment). In any group of 700 there are going to be some unsavory characters, especially when all 700 are aggressive young men, and many of them are rich and spoiled. I would be surprised if you couldn't find a rapist among them. Hopefully the NHL will handle this is a decent way, but I doubt they can do much until the authorities do.
To me, the article implied blaming the team for unsavory characters, I said why I'd rather blame the NHL. Are you saying you absolutely and only draw the line at players who get charged with specific crimes while they're under contract with the NHL? (I don't follow what the NHL does for players who have done their 'time' for crimes they've been previously charged with.) Does the NHL agree with you? Do you expect them to do anything else? Have they done anything else? I think we're using the same idea, except I'm outright stating players currently have PR 'requirements/obligations', and that there are alternatives to suspending someone based on rumours. I'm not saying I have personal problems with the NHL, just that imo they have at least a minimum of responsibility and I trust them to take care of it.