Patrick Kane Dropped from NHL 16 Video Game Cover by EA Sports

Patrick Kane is being dropped from the cover of the EA Sports video game, NHL 16.

The company issued this statement via Twitter:

In light of the ongoing investigation involving Patrick Kane, he will no longer be a spokesperson for the launch of EA Sports NHL 16. He will not appear on the EA Sports NHL 16 cover nor participate in other EA Sports NHL 16 promotional activities.

The Chicago Blackhawks star is the focus of a rape investigation in Hamburg, NY. A woman who met him in a bar accused him of forcing her into sex after he invited her to his home. She reported bite marks on her shoulders to police. Investigators are awaiting the results of forensic tests conducted at a hospital after she left Kane’s home.

Kane has not been arrested or charged.

The night of the alleged rape, Aug. 1, before the allegations surfaced publicly, fans who encountered him during that night’s bar crawling tweeted comments about Kane being “s--t-bombed drunk.” Others posted about getting a kiss from him and selfie photos. He was last seen at SkyBar in the company of a few women and friends.

Jonathan Toews will be on the cover by himself with the Stanley Cup. He and Kane were to appear on the cover together, along with the Stanley Cup.

While the investigation is still unfolding and charges have not been brought, a prosecutor has been assigned to the case from the Erie County Special Victims Unit. EA Sports ultimately decided the situation as it currently stands was reason enough to drop Kane.

“Innocent until proven guilty,” an important precept in the U.S. criminal code, doesn’t apply in the fickle court of public opinion — and is wholly irrelevant in the promotion of a commercial product. “Presumption of innocence” doesn’t help move video games off the shelves.

Kane’s drinking and bad-boy antics — including his arrest after an altercation with a Buffalo cab driver over 20 cents in change — have been a source of irritation to the Blackhawks management for the last six years, even as the team won three championships with Kane on the ice.

Some fans met the EA Sports decision on Wednesday with mockery, dismay and disagreement, others with understanding and support.

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