Whatever happened in Buffalo, it's not good

The news crashed into Comiskey Park's press box like a ton of hockey pucks.

"Patrick Kane was arrested in Buffalo," somebody said.

Now, a lot of negatives could be said about the Blackhawks' young winger. You know, like he isn't tough enough or isn't as good as the hype or shouldn't be a part of the team's long-term core.

But arrested in Buffalo? What's next, Gordon Beckham passing counterfeit dollar bills in Peoria? Matt Forte shoplifting at Wal-Mart? Derrick Rose flashing gang signs in Memphis?

Wait, forget that last one.

To be honest I don't know what Patrick did or didn't do to a cabdriver during an alleged dispute over pocket change in his hometown early Sunday morning.

Regardless, whatever happened can't be good for the Blackhawks, who are suffering an off-season as unfashionable as John Daly's golf pants.

One thing is for sure: It's never good when one of a sports franchise's prominent players is charged with theft of services, criminal mischief and second-degree robbery.

Then even if Kane is proven innocent of all that, the assumption is, here was a sports role model out on the town at 5 a.m., possibly partaking in underage drinking. Let's see - maybe the 20-year-old was on his way home from having a few alcoholic pops or on his way to an early church service. Draw your own conclusions, folks.

My first reaction to the sketchy details was that this was like "Saturday Night Live" spoofing the character of professional athletes. A young star drinks when he shouldn't be. - At 5 a.m. the millionaire kid becomes embroiled in a dispute with a cabdriver over 20 cents. -

Actually, if the Kane news weren't so funny it would be depressing and if it weren't so depressing it would be funny.

Patrick Kane arrested? The precocious Hawks winger? The police have a mug shot of the kid who doesn't look old enough yet to have taken a driver's license photo?

Weren't Kane and teammate Jonathan Toews featured in a feel-good promo showing up unannounced at a youth hockey practice to interact with the youngsters?

Wasn't Kane in Buffalo to appear with the mayor to announce the rehab of the ice rink he practiced in as a kid?

Meanwhile, new Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens must be chuckling that you immediately thought he was the one in trouble.

Kane certainly wasn't the first guy you'd think of. His most anticipated offense was maybe taking part in a panty raid or throwing water bombs out his dorm window.

Mere moments after the report surfaced, an Internet wag wondered whether Kane's new uniform number would be something like 8854362. Another figured his anger over 20 cents was in the spirit of previous Hawks management. Several were amazed that Kane engaged in a fight, much less won one.

One guess is that Kane simply decided to join in the Hawks' off-season follies. Remember, they were late issuing qualifying offers to restricted free agents, fired popular general manager Dale Tallon, and are being investigated for a possibly violating the salary cap.

In view of all that, maybe Patrick Kane's brush with the law shouldn't have been so surprising.