Blackhawks star Patrick Kane is the subject of a rape investigation in upstate New York, according to The Buffalo News.
Sources told the paper the alleged incident occurred over the last weekend and a woman accused Kane of sexual assault. The accuser went to a hospital, where tests were performed using a rape kit.
The alleged incident started at a bar, according to WKBW. Kane has not been charged with a crime.
“We are aware and following developments,” an NHL spokesman told the station.
It was unclear whether Kane — who lives in Hamburg, outside of Buffalo, during the offseason — had been interviewed by law enforcement as part of the investigation, and the paper was awaiting the results of a Freedom of Information request.
Kane’s neighbors told the Chicago Tribune that several plainclothes police officers entered his lakefront house using flashlights on Sunday night. At least one wore gloves and was seen taking pictures.
However, Hamburg Police Chief Gregory G. Wickett said: “We can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of a criminal investigation until such a time as a person is charged with a crime.”
This is not his first run-in with law enforcement in the Hamburg area. In August 2009, the hockey star pleaded guilty to the non-criminal violation of disorderly conduct after he assaulted a Buffalo cabbie over 20 cents worth of change. Criminal charges eventually were dropped.
Kane again found himself on the wrong side of the headlines in May 2012 when he got into an altercation outside a bar in Madison, Wisconsin. He was not arrested.
Kane, 26, is about to enter the first year of an eight-year, $84 million contract. He was scheduled to bring the Stanley Cup to the Buffalo are this weekend, though now it’s unclear if that will go on as planned.
“We are aware of the matter and are in the process of gathering information,” the Blackhawks said in a statement Thursday. “It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
Kane started this past season playing at a MVP level, but broke his collarbone in a gruesome hit into the boards in February. He returned for the playoffs, and helped Chicago win its third championship in the past six seasons. The Blackhawks drafted Kane with the No. 1 overall pick in 2007.
At the team’s championship rally in Chicago in June, Kane referenced his past behavior in discussing how he’s matured both on and off the ice: “I know you said I’ve been growing up, but just watch out for me the next two weeks.”
It may have taken Kane seven weeks, but he seems to have followed through on his word.