Patrick Kane: 'My Family's Been Awesome. My Girlfriend's Been Great'

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One day after Erie County’s top prosecutor exposed a “bizarre hoax” connected to the Patrick Kane sexual assault investigation, the Chicago Blackhawks star says: “I don’t know what comes next.”

Speaking to reporters after Saturday morning’s practice, Kane said he finds comfort in being with his teammates and preparing for the season.

“Being in an environment that you love to be a part of, that obviously helps,” Kane said.

Some in sports media have called for the NHL and the Blackhawks to keep Kane out of training camp, to suspend him, even to trade him and his bouts of trouble and drunken misbehavior away.

Instead, the Blackhawks have put him back on the ice. Saturday night, he’s expected to play in the exhibition against the St. Louis Blues.

• ALSO ON PATCH: Patrick Kane ‘Rape-Kit Evidence Bag’ a ‘Hoax’ by the Mom, DA Says

“There’s still plenty of things that are obviously going on away from the rink that keep your attention. But when I’m here in this locker room, at the rink, on the ice, that’s what I’m focused on,” the 26-year-old said.

Two months ago, Chicago’s hockey fans were shocked to learn one of their favorites was accused of raping a woman in the wee hours of the morning in his Hamburg, N.Y., mansion after a night of bar crawling. Cops descended on his home before sunrise to gather evidence. A weekend of partying with the Stanley Cup in his hometown was abruptly cut short.

Then came the leaks about the investigation itself — the woman sustained bite marks on her shoulders and scratches on her legs. Kane’s DNA was found under his accuser’s fingernails and in the bite marks, sources close to the investigation told reporters. But Kane’s DNA was not found in her genital area and not anywhere below the woman’s waist, sources also said. Then Kane’s attorney divulged that a mix of male DNA was found on the woman — but not Kane’s.

This week, his accuser’s attorney dropped a bombshell allegation — an evidence bag was found in the front doorway of the woman’s mother. And Thomas Eoannou raised the possibility the DNA evidence had been tampered with. A day later, the attorney suddenly dropped his client and said he couldn’t trust his client’s mother. To add to the murk, a key witness expected to go before a grand jury — the girlfriend who was with the accuser that night — now says she’s reluctant to testify, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.

And, to cap off the bizarre week, on Friday the Erie County district attorney, Frank Sedita III, in an expansive and unusual press conference told reporters his investigation proved the evidence bag allegation was an “elaborate hoax” perpetrated by the mother. Sedita — who’s not sure this case even will be presented to a grand jury — said he must figure out for himself “what comes next.”

As he does so, Kane will just play hockey and hope a resolution comes soon.

The criminal investigation and the circus blowing up around the case have thrown him off his game, Kane told reporters.

“I feel like I’ve been trying to work hard at training camp to get my game back and get everything back in order,” the Tribune quoted him as saying. “Usually I’d probably be at a better place, but I feel like it’s starting to come around.”

Kane said in a press conference on the eve of training camp, flanked by team executives, he’s confident he will be “absolved” of any crime.

“Obviously, I believe what I said, and I think that’s been reiterated many times by not only myself, but my lawyer, as well. But what’s going to actually happen is just speculation, so I don’t know. I don’t know what comes next,” the Sun-Times quotes him as saying. “My family’s been awesome. My girlfriend’s been great. I think everyone — especially the Blackhawks organization, as well.

“Everyone’s kind of stuck with me through the whole thing. It’s good to have that support. Support’s been huge throughout these past couple of months.”

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• Attorney for Patrick Kane’s Accuser Drops His Client
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• Trading Kane: Will ‘Volcanically Outraged’ Blackhawks Management Send Patrick Kane Away?
• Patrick Kane’s Lawyer vs. the Erie County District Attorney
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• Patrick Kane Dropped from NHL 16 Video Game Cover
• The Buffalo News Taken to Task for ‘Victim-Blaming’ Quotes
• Patrick Kane’s Accuser Had ‘Bite Marks’ on Her Shoulders: Report
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• Patrick Kane’s Saturday with the Stanley Cup
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