In a move that has many NHL fans baffled on Sunday morning, the ESPY’s have named Patrick Kane the NHL’s best player for 2021. It’s not to suggest that Kane is not a good player or that he didn’t have a strong season, but that he won the award for best NHL player in a year where Connor McDavid earned 105 points in 56 games an was the unanimous Hart Trophy Winner this season.
Kane also won the award over Conn Smythe Trophy Winner Andrei Vasilevskiy, over Auston Matthews, over Leon Draisaitl and any of the other six players who scored more points than he did and on teams that had more regular season and playoff success than his Chicago Blackhawks.
Why this is laughable, is because of the timing. This decision comes right as ESPN and Turner Sports are being tasked with covering the NHL now on television. And as the network tries to grow the brand of hockey in the United States, one would think they’d focus on a player who is younger, positioned to the face of the league and can bring the network and the NHL a lot more positive publicity and revenue from casual fans.
Reactions to the announcement on social media are pretty hilarious. They range from, “Patrick Kane just won the Best player in the NHL award at the ESPYs… If you’re wondering how the NHL is doing outside of Canada,” to “Hockey may be on ESPN again but this just goes to show you they’re still the same ESPN that doesn’t care or know anything about hockey.” One Twitter user wrote, “In other news, ESPN thinks it’s 2015, and are looking forward to taking over NHL coverage next season.”
How Did This Happen?
Look no further than the voting process for the ESPY’s. Winners for each award were determined by fan vote on ESPN’s app and website. Other players like McDavid and Matthews were nominated, but Kane was really the only player in the Top 10 for NHL scoring that was born in the U.S. and played on a U.S. based team.
But, hey, it’s just the integrity of the game they’re trying to sell here right? No reason to be upset with fans selecting a player who was 7th in points, 39 points off league scoring lead, and scored the fewest goals among the NHL’s top 25 scoring leaders.
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