Evander Kane stuck up to his critics and made a dramatic rise for the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 playoffs

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There has been a constant flow of negative talk about Evander Kane in Edmonton this hockey season, and at the end of the season, the dam broke when Kane admitted he was playing with a sports hernia injury.

However, Kane is currently playing inspired and effective two-way hockey in the first round for the Los Angeles Kings, despite much of the criticism. He looks a lot like the rugged and dangerous Evander Kane, who won the hearts of Oilers fans in the 2022 playoffs with 13 goals in 15 games.

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During a season in which Kane struggled with injuries (and made a number of sly observations about his lack of playing time), many fans and pundits turned on him. Those obsessed with the player suggested it was too early to judge Kane and that he was always a big game player. They expected Edmonton's tough hockey man to show his quality again in the playoffs, when Kane's ferocious forechecking would come into its own.

Well, Kane does it.

He lives up to his end of the bargain.

The Oilers were dynamite on the power play against Los Angeles, but they weren't as solid at even strength, with only about half of their forwards playing consistently on both offense and defense, including top-line Connor Mack. It was just David and Zach Hyman. Grinders Dylan Holloway, Derek Ryan and Matthias Janmark, and Kane and Leon Draisaitl reunited on the second oil line.

But Kane stood out as much as any forward other than McDavid.

As Kane moved up the lineup in the LA series, his play trended upward. His Cult of Hockey Player grades were 6, 6, 9, 7, 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.

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In Game 3, both teams were determined to win, and fireworks went off wherever Kane went. He completed Gordie Howe's hat trick in this important game. In the first period he moved to the Draisaitl line and immediately drove a Grade A over the net. He then pulled off the scoring spree made famous in Edmonton by Glenn Anderson and Mark Messier, dropping the puck behind him as he circled the net, leading Kings goaltender Cam Talbot into the wide-open net. Draisaitl smashed in the goal. .

“Incredibly smart hockey IQ goals from Draisaitl and Kane,” Sportsnet's Kevin Bieksa said.

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In the second period, Cain put an outside shot that hit Cody Ceci's knee into the net, putting the Oilers up 4-1. He bowed to his strong performance in the third when he took an ugly elbow from Andreas Englund and punched England in the face.

In Game 5, Kane scored Edmonton's first big goal of the game with solid rushing play and a tricky backhand.

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Just as important as Kane's goals was his physical play. His 17 hits were third on the Oilers behind Adam Henrique's 22 and Zach Hyman's 19, but no player was hit as hard as Kane. Kane, in particular, went after the Kings' ace D-man, Drew Doty, and seemed to catch him with one wild hit per game.

It's also notable that Kane remained calm both on the ice and in several encounters with media critics and opposing players.

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So far, Kane has been very good, better than he was in the regular season.

There was talk early on that he was slowing down too much to be an effective NHLer.

There was talk that Oilers GM Ken Holland was overpaying for Cain's contract.

There was also talk of him creating too much drama and once again distracting his teammates.

There was even talk that he threw Holland under the bus when Kane admitted to having a sports hernia injury. This admission leads some to wonder if Holland should have placed Cain on long-term injured reserve before the trade deadline, like Vegas did with Mark Stone, so the Oilers could acquire more assets. A question arose.

I admit to my own doubts about Kane. Mainly, whether he can perform well while obviously injured, and whether his erratic defensive play is strong enough for him to thrive on the playoff line, the regulars are inconsistent. It's about whether he can play in the playoff line with another player, Leon Draisaitl. defensive play of the season.

But so far, Cain and Draisaitl have formed a strong partnership on the defensive end. It's not perfect, but solid enough. If you get serious, you can cheat on your d-zone work. If they don't get serious, there's no way the Oilers will win the Stanley Cup.

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But few can attack with the skill and ferocity of Draisaitl and Kane. When the checks go awry, when the Oilers really need a goal in the 2024 playoffs, I wonder if even Kane's biggest critics will be secretly glad he's an Oiler.

What does it look like? Agree or disagree?

Stephen Guilbeault has a good old friend at the Pembina Institute in Alberta.

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