Patrick Kane’s troubled past

The Buffalo News reported on Thursday that Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane is the subject of a police investigation near his home in Hamburg, N.Y. Kane has not been charged, and the specifics of the investigation are unclear. The 26-year-old star has been in trouble before:

The cabbie

In August of 2009, a 20-year-old Kane and his cousin, James M. Kane, were arrested in Buffalo after an altercation with a cab driver. According to Buffalo police, the 62-year-old cab driver said he was punched in the face, grabbed by the throat and had his glasses broken in the dispute, which began when the Kanes took back their $15 when the cab driver said he was 20 cents short of the correct change on a $13.80 fare. The incident happened after 4 a.m.

Kane and his cousin eventually pleaded guilty to a noncriminal charge of disorderly conduct, and were ordered to apologize to the cab driver.

“Obviously, I’m in a little different situation than most kids at this age but at the same time I think it’s definitely been a learning lesson and something I want to move forward on,” Kane told the judge before his sentencing. “It’s maybe better I learn it now than later in life.”

The limo

Just five months after the cabbie incident, and just five months before the Hawks won their first Stanley Cup in 49 years, Kane, John Madden and Kris Versteeg were photographed shirtless and drinking in a limousine in Vancouver with three women. The photos showed up in the Vancouver Province newspaper, then were all over the Internet.

As Sharks center Joe Thornton said a few days later when the Hawks came to San Jose for a game, it was just “boys being boys.” But it was an embarrassing situation, nonetheless.

“I’ve got to learn,” Kane said. ”I’m 21 years old, and it’s time to grow up a little bit.”

Cinco de Mayo

Patrick Kane was hardly the only 23-year-old drunk in the streets of Madison, Wis., on Cinco de Mayo in 2012. But those other kids weren’t multi-million dollar pro athletes. Cringe-worthy photos of an obviously drunk Kane in Madison went viral, with sites such as Deadspin and Yahoo’s Puck Daddy having a field day with the incident.

When Kane finally addressed the photos two months later at the Hawks’ fan convention, he used the word “embarrassing” several times. After the incident, the Sun-Times reported that some in the organization felt Kane should seek professional help. At the convention, he was asked directly if he has a drinking problem.

“I don’t think so,” Kane said, adding that he didn’t want to put himself in such a position again.

Kane also said that he wanted to put his reputation as a wild child behind him.

“It’s not fun,” he said. “That’s not really the person I am. I think the people that are closest to me really know who I am and what I’m about and what I want to bring to this world. That’s definitely not something I want to pride myself on, and the image that I have right now is something I can only strive to get better.”