The Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane and his friend, Boston Bruins Tyler Seguin both are playing for EHC Biel in Switzerland during the NHL lockout.
Both have a reputation for behaving like, well, 24-year old millionaires.
Even if you known nothing about the Blackhawks and don’t know Kane by name, he is the guy who got absolutely wasted during Cinco de Mayo in Madison, Wisconsin. If you live in Chicago or follow hockey you’ve probably heard a story or two about him.
However, during the lockout, Kane packed up his things from the Trump Hotel where he residences and headed across the pond to play hockey and to find out whether other countries have sorority girls too.
Kane, too scared to go to play in Russia, landed in Biel, Switzerland. Only, he wasn’t alone. Kane told Yahoo! Sports that the morning he was set to fly out, he got a text, “I got a text from (my mother) this morning, ‘It’s just me and you. I don’t know if she’ll be there the whole time, but she’ll go over and help me get settled in.”
This was in November. Now, as December closes, Mrs. Kane is still in Switzerland. And, Pat Kane is driving a Skoda station wagon around the small European city.
Kane has been living in a three-bedroom on the edge of the forest, with his hockey bag, sticks, mother, two suitcases, one full of clothes and the other full of American food, and a Tim Tebow book. He packed for two weeks.
Kane, the same player who brought a Stanley Cup to Chicago, carries his own bags. The team takes buses to and from every road game, never staying anywhere overnight. He also supplies most of his own gear as equipment managers often wait weeks for hockey gear to arrive from North America.
Kane says he watches movies with his mom and exchanges the odd text with people back home, for updates on the lockout, as he only gets five television channels.
The locals know that they scored two NHLers, however, they don’t know who is who. Kane says, “They want to talk to you and ask if you’re Kane or Seguin.” Kind of like ESPN.