The National Hockey League (NHL) has found no evidence that San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane gambled on League games, after concluding an investigation that launched last month.
The investigation, which concluded on September 22, sought to examine allegations made by Mr. Kane’s wife, Deanna Kane, in a series of social media posts.
The NHL announced that Mr. Kane was under investigation in August.
The allegations claimed that Mr. Kane participated in gambling on NHL games, and that he “threw” games to affect the outcome.
In a post on Instagram, Ms. Kane claimed that Mr. Kane was “obviously throwing games to win money”.
The investigation involved an extensive review of “social media, public data, and court filings from the bankruptcy proceeding initiated by Mr. Kane in January 2021 and his pending divorce proceeding,” read a statement from the NHL.
Sports betting data analysis and interviews with members of the San Jose Sharks organization and Kane were also carried out as part of the probe.
The sports betting analysis included Sportradar bet monitoring reports on San Jose Sharks games from the latter part of the 2018-2019 season and the full 2020-2021 season.
The NHL noted that Ms. Kane declined to participate in the investigation.
The organization concluded that there was “no evidence to corroborate” the claims that Mr. Kane bet on League games, adding that there was also no evidence to suggest that Mr. Kane “did not put forward his best effort to help the Sharks win games.”
However, through the course of the probe two further matters came to light which the NHL says it will “thoroughly investigate.”
These matters relate to Mr. Kane’s alleged treatment of Ms. Kane and accusations of inappropriate behavior “potentially jeopardizing the health and safety of Club members.”
Yesterday, the NHL announced that it had signed a new partnership with Russian betting operator Liga Stavok.