Dater’s Daily: Evander Kane situation gets uglier, Fleury will report to Blackhawks

Good Sunday to all, good start of a new month to all. August is historically known as the “dead” month in sports media, unless you’re a rabid baseball fan. I used to be a rabid fan of baseball and still like to have a game on TV now and then, but am not the same passionate fan of youth. Most sports writers would probably say that. Let’s do some hockey notes, though, starting with a very ugly story involving Sharks forward Evander Kane:

• It was quite a bombshell yesterday, when Kane’s wife, Anna, took to Instagram and leveled some pretty serious accusations against him, including that he gambled on games he played. Evander Kane strongly denied it, and said his estranged wife is not well mentally. Anna fired back today. The NHL will launch an investigation on the gambling allegations. Our Sheng Peng has been on the sordid story from the word go (San Jose Hockey Now)
• Marc-Andre Fleury has informed the Chicago Blackhawks he will play for them in the upcoming season (ESPN)
• Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Evgeni Malkin turned 35 on Saturday. To celebrate, here are their Top 5 Evgeni Malkin moments.
• Vancouver: The Canucks, Flames, and Oilers used to hold their rookie tournament together, but they scrapped it because it was too close to Vancouver. What?! The Canadian rivals are finally bringing it back.
• I just watched all three of the “Before” Richard Linklater films, starring Ethan Hawke. I give them all two enthusiastic thumbs up. Always been a big Ethan Hawke fan, and not just because he stood right behind me in a rental car line once in Vancouver.
• Martin Jones has had three straight subpar seasons, but the Flyers signed him anyway. Why do they think he can bounce back in Philadelphia? (PHN)
• The five worst free-agent contracts in Red Wings history (Detroit Hockey Now)
• Wish I had this problem still: An NHL prospect has had trouble gaining weight and now counts chocolate cake as his secret weapon (TSN)
• The 10 best hockey commercials of all time (Hockey News)
• I think they missed a few on that list. To this day, I’m still trying to find a hilarious TV ad that featured Adam Foote and Joe Sakic for 103.5 The Fox. It was the “bacos” ad. If anyone out there has it, send ‘er over.