San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane wants next, but he may have got more than he bargained for.
After YouTube personality Jake Paul defeated former Knicks star Nate Robinson in the boxing ring Saturday, Kane quickly challenged Paul — which led to noted Vegas Golden Knights rival Ryan Reaves throwing down the gauntlet to Kane.
The Pacific division rivals traded jabs on Twitter Sunday, with heavyweight pugilist Reaves joining in on what appeared to be a playful thread between Kane and Knights goaltender Robin Lehner. Things quickly escalated.
“@evanderkane_9 calling someone out to fight?” Reaves tweeted. “We might have to wait 9 years to see that. He might be a good prelim vs @KevinHart4real though.”
Kane, a fearsome fist-thrower in his own right — he’s named after and took boxing lessons from heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield — threw down with Reaves during the Sharks-Knights first-round playoff series in 2019. Their tussle transitioned off the ice and into the media via postgame comments. Despite their partnership on the Hockey Diversity Alliance, the two seem willing to throw barbs in addition to fists.
They weren’t the only ones: Reaves’ brother Jordan — a defensive lineman for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders — also went after Kane for challenging Paul.
“Boy if you don’t sit your soft ass down,” he wrote over Kane’s follow-up challenge to Paul on Sunday.
Kane escalated things further, involving the siblings in a since-deleted tweet.
“Always good to see the Reaves sisters chime in and try to hop on the coat tails @JReaves77 @reavo7five but that’s okay I’ll keep you both relevant,” he wrote.
The 29-year-old quickly received backlash for referring to the Reaveses as ‘sisters’ and apologized for using a “sexist” term.
“My intention wasn’t for it to come across that way at alI,” he tweeted. “I would like to apologize for using that term and to anyone who was offended by it. But remember no ones perfect, especially if your [sic] on Twitter.”