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Evander Kane Belongs To Family Of Athletes: His Parents Were Volleyball And Basketball Player

Evander Kane Belongs To Family Of Athletes: His Parents Were Volleyball And Basketball Player

Evander Kane comes from an athletic family, as are his mother, father, siblings, uncles, and relatives.

Kane was born on August 2, 1991, in Vancouver, Canada, to his loving parents, Perry Kane and Sheri Kane. He attended John Oliver Secondary School and grew up in East Vancouver with two younger sisters.

In high school, the athlete participated in hockey, baseball, basketball, and soccer, and his father, who also played ice hockey, served as his coach. He got so far in his job thanks to his father’s coaching.

Evander, who began skating at the age of three and played minor ice hockey at the age of eight, was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers in the first round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Throughout his career, the ice hockey player has played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, and San Jose Sharks, and he presently plays for the Edmonton Oilers.

Evander Kane
Evander Kane

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Evander Kane Was Born Into An Athletic Family

Evander Kane is from an athletic background and acquired his parents’ passion of sports.

Kane’s father was an amateur boxer and hockey player, while his mother played collegiate volleyball. Similarly, his uncle Leonard Kane is a member of the Canadian Ball Hockey Hall of Fame.

Dwayne Provo and Kirk Johnson, Evander’s cousins, were also athletes. Dwayne spent seven years in the Canadian Football League and one season with the New England Patriots in the NFL.

Kirk is a former professional boxer who competed for the World Boxing Association heavyweight belt against John Ruiz in 2002. From 1993 through 2010, the fighter boxed for Canada at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Evander Kane’s Parents Were Prominent Athletes

Perry and Sheri Kane, Evander Kane’s parents, were also athletes in their teens.

His father played hockey, while his mother played professional volleyball and basketball.

Perry began playing hockey with his brother Leonard at the age of 16, but did not continue it professionally because it was difficult at the time; he was also an amateur boxer.

Evander spent every day playing one-on-one with his father. Over and over, the two would have stick-and-puck shots on an open net and the boards. From the age of three, Papa Kane taught his son how to skate and shoot the puck.

Evander Kane’s Father Perry Kane Was A Hockey Fan

Evander Kane’s father grew up in East Preston, Nova Scotia, a small, close-knit village just outside Dartmouth, with his four siblings.

He was a talented ice hockey player; but, he had many other things to consider, so he selected a different path. Later, the former athlete and his wife relocated to East Vancouver to establish a family.

Furthermore, he coached his kid from an early age and initially sought to keep the younger Kane out of organised hockey until he was 10 years old. However, his wife enrolled their child two years earlier, at the age of eight.

Evander attributes his achievement and the well-being of his family to his father. Evander would not have gotten this far in his career if it hadn’t been for Perry.

Evander Kane’s Mother Sheri Kane Was A Professional Athlete

Unlike Evander’s father, Sheri pursued her passion for athletics professionally; she was a professional volleyball and basketball player.

She played volleyball at the University of Calgary and was always there for her son when he made a mistake; while Evander’s father shaped him into a professional hockey player, his mother fulfilled his every desire.

His parents called him Evander Holyfield after the American boxer he met when he was 18 years old.

Evander has now become a father. He is the proud father of two children. He and his ex-wife Anna have a beautiful daughter named Kensington Ava Kane, who celebrated her second birthday on July 4th, 2022. Similarly, on May 25, 2022, his partner Mara blessed him with a newborn boy named Iverson Frank Kane.

Evander Kane Has Two Beautiful Sisters

Brea Kane and Kyla Kane are Evander Kane’s younger sisters. His sisters were also competitive athletes. They were soccer players and dancers.

Growing up, the siblings shared a room because there were only two bedrooms and one bathroom for five people. They decided to paint one side of the room blue and the other pink.

Evander’s enrollment in one of the most expensive sports for children required the family to adapt their budget. His father ran a bakery and delivered bread, and his mother worked as a dental assistant. On the side, the elder Kane had a car dealership.

Furthermore, their adored father was a strict disciplinarian at home, requiring all of his children to achieve all A’s and B’s in order for them to have a great future. Brea and Kyla, on the other hand, have led a shady existence, and their whereabouts are unknown.

Evander Kane's Wife Anna
Evander Kane’s Wife Anna

Achievements

  • WHL Champion — 2005-06
  • CHL Memorial Cup Champion — 2006-07
  • CHL Top Prospects Game — 2008-09
  • U20 WJC Gold Medal — 2008-09
  • WHL (West) First All-Star Team — 2008-09
  • NHL Most Penalized Player (153) — 2018-19
  • NHL Most Penalized Player (122) — 2019-20

Career In Sports

Early Professional Career

Evander scored 140 points in 66 games with the bantam North Shore Winter Club when he was 14 years old, followed by a 22-goal, 54-point season with the Greater Vancouver Canadians of the BC Hockey Major Midget League to place fourth in league scoring (BCMML).

Evander played minor hockey with the Vancouver Thunderbirds prior to playing bantam and midget hockey.

Giants of Vancouver (2006–09)

Evander was picked 19th overall by the Vancouver Giants in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft and played eight games for the Giants in the 2006-07 season. Due to other Giants players’ international obligations in the World Junior Championships, he received his first WHL call-up on December 13, 2006, for a game against the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Evander scored his first WHL goal, a game-tying goal, in the final game of the regular season on March 25, 2007. He also appeared in five WHL playoff games after being called up after Giants forward Tim Kraus was suspended for game three of the first round.

Evander later contributed an assist in two Memorial Cup games as part of the Giants’ 2007 Memorial Cup triumph. His rugged style (he racked up 150 penalty minutes in 30 games during midget) drew an early comparison to Darcy Tucker from Giants head coach Don Hay, who coached Tucker as a junior with the Kamloops Blazers.

Evander was slated to begin his rookie season with the Giants the following season, but he was forced to miss the start of training camp due to mononucleosis.

Despite this, Evander healed and joined the Giants full-time, earning 24 goals and 41 points in his first WHL season.

After finishing tenth in rookie scoring, he was nominated for the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as league rookie of the year, which went to Brandon Wheat Kings’ Brayden Schenn. Evander had a strong start to the 2008-09 season, scoring at least one goal in each of his first 22 games.

Evander was named WHL Player of the Week on October 12, 2008, after earning his first WHL hat-trick against the Kelowna Rockets on October 10, 2008. He succeeded linemate Casey Pierro-Zabotel, who had been picked the previous week.

Shortly after, Evander was chosen to represent the WHL in the 2008 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge; however, he was unable to perform for Team WHL due to a bruised heel suffered on November 15 in a game against the Kelowna Rockets.

Evander recovered and was named an injury substitute for Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championships. On January 12, 2009, after returning with a gold medal, he was chosen player of the week for the second time in the season, after collecting six points in two games immediately following the World Juniors.

Later that month, Evander captained Team Cherry in the 2009 CHL Top Prospects Game. He concluded his second WHL season fourth in league scoring with 48 goals and 96 points. He broke Adam Courchaine’s 2002-03 team record of 43 goals in a single season.

The linemates finished one-two in all-time Giants single-season scoring, as Pierro-Zabotel and Kane both surpassed Gilbert Brulé’s previous 87-point mark.

After the Giants swept the Prince George Cougars in the first round of the 2009 playoffs, Evander scored a double-overtime game-winner to force a seventh game in the second round against the Spokane Chiefs.

After defeating the Chiefs in the seventh game, the Giants were eliminated in six games by the Kelowna Rockets in the semi-finals. Evander scored 15 points in 17 postseason games.

For the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS) ranked Evander as the second-best draft-eligible WHL skater, trailing Spokane Chiefs defenseman Jared Cowen. Kane was ranked eighth overall by International Scouting Services (ISS) among all draft-eligible skaters.

Following his performance at the 2009 World Junior Championships, Evander climbed to third overall among North American skaters in the NHL CSS’s midseason and final rankings, trailing only John Tavares and Matt Duchene, and first in the WHL.

As a result, Evander was chosen by the NHL CSS as the WHL’s nomination for the CHL Top Draft Prospect Award (the award went to Tavares, the nominee from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The ISS ranked him sixth overall in their April rankings leading up to the 2009 draught.

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NHL Profession

Following the selections of Tavares, Victor Hedman, and Matt Duchene with the first three picks in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Evander was selected fourth overall by the Atlanta Thrashers.

Evander became the highest drafted Vancouver native since Paul Kariya was taken fourth overall in 1993 (Barry Beck was the highest at second overall in 1977), the highest drafted Vancouver Giants player in franchise history (surpassing Gilbert Brule, who was drafted sixth overall in 2005), and the highest drafted black player in NHL history.

On July 20, 2009, the Thrashers signed Evander to an entry-level contract, less than a month later.

Evander made the Thrashers’ lineup after his first NHL training camp in 2009-10. On October 3, 2009, he earned his first NHL point with an assist on Rich Peverley’s goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Five days later, on October 8, he scored his first goal, defeating Chris Mason with a snap shot in a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues.

Evander made his NHL debut a few months later, on December 10, in an away game against the Vancouver Canucks. Kane had a near-goal go to review as the Thrashers fell 4-2 in overtime.

Evander injured his left foot late in his rookie season when stopping a shot against the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 6, 2010. Three days later, a CT scan indicated a bone fracture. He was out for 15 games before returning on April 3, 2010.

Evander was challenged to a fight by Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke during the Thrashers’ final game of the season on April 10. He landed two punches to Cooke’s jaw, putting him out for many minutes on the ice. Evander ended his debut NHL season with 14 goals and 26 points in 66 games, ranking 12th among rookie point scorers.

Evander was injured numerous times during his second NHL season in 2010-11. On November 30, 2010, he suffered a left knee injury while playing against the Colorado Avalanche and missed two games after being hit by a shot from teammate Tobias Enstrom. Evander missed one game the following month due to an arm injury suffered on December 7th against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Evander missed six more games in January 2011 due to a lower-body injury. Despite missing nine games, he upped his point total to 43 with 19 goals and 24 assists. He was seventh on the team in points scored, and third among forwards behind captain Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little.

Evander Kane
Evander Kane

True North Sports and Entertainment purchased and relocated the Atlanta Thrashers franchise during the offseason, transforming them into the Winnipeg Jets. Kane expressed excitement about the transfer and the opportunity to play in a Canadian hockey market with a fervent fan base.

Although the previous edition of the Jets was a distinct franchise (the team became the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996), the number 9 jersey was retired in honour of Bobby Hull.

Evander told the media in advance of his departure to Winnipeg that he would personally obtain Hull’s permission to continue wearing the number he wore as a Thrasher.

Evander was having a productive debut season with the Jets, leading the team in scoring with 18 goals and 31 points by mid-January 2012. However, he was sidelined with a concussion during that month, which was reported on January 21, 2012.

Evander returned to the lineup early the next month after missing seven games. He later told reporters that he had been experiencing concussion-like symptoms for a month after being hit during a game against the New York Islanders on December 20, 2011.

On March 1, 2012, Evander had a four-point game (two goals and two assists) in a 7-0 win over the Florida Panthers.

Evander signed a 6-year, $31.5 million contract with the Jets on September 15, 2012. As a result of the NHL lockout in 2012-13, he joined the Kontinental Hockey League’s HC Dynamo Minsk (KHL).

Evander was the first Canadian NHL player to sign a KHL deal. However, after twelve games with the club and one goal, he was released by Dynamo. Evander “could not adapt to hockey in the KHL,” according to the club’s athletic director, but both parties agreed to discontinue the deal.

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Arpita
Arpita

Hi there! My name is Arpita Jain and I'm a passionate author with a love for storytelling. I've written several books across different genres including fiction, non-fiction, and children's literature.

My journey as an author started when I was a child and discovered my love for writing and creating stories. Over time, I've developed my writing skills and found my unique voice and perspective.

I strive to create characters that are vivid and compelling, settings that are immersive, and storylines that are thought-provoking. I explore complex themes such as love, loss, identity, and social issues in my writing, hoping to inspire readers to think deeply about the world around them.

Overall, writing is my true passion, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to share my stories with the world.

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