Vancouver-born hockey player Evander Kane filing for bankruptcy with millions in gambling debt
Posted January 12, 2021 7:11 pm.
Last Updated January 12, 2021 7:49 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Hockey player Evander Kane, who plays for San Jose Sharks, is filing for bankruptcy.
According to The Athletic, court papers detail Kane losing a $1.5 million in gambling in just the last month — owing nearly $27 million overall.
Sandra Garossino, who battled casino expansion in Metro Vancouver, says Kane’s news shines a spotlight on how brutal gambling addictions are.
“The thing about gambling addiction is that addicts will chase it, whether they’re winning or whether they’re losing. They don’t stop until they’ve lost it all. That is the only thing that stops it. Because if you’re winning, you just want to keep letting it ride. If you’re losing, you want to chase it and try and get it back,” she says.
“It’s far more prevalent in society than we are aware of generally speaking – and largely because it is so easy to hide so it doesn’t surprise me at all to see it emerging at a time like this because of course this is of course especially stressful,” Garossino adds.
Amid the pandemic, Garossino explains periods of isolation make working through a gambling addiction even more challenging, amplifying the patterns and difficulties it. Garossino adds pre-pandemic, the province didn’t do a good job addressing gambling addictions.
“It’s got such built-in conflict of interest — even from public policy point of view — because the public purse is dependent on gambling revenues.”
Assets listed in Kane’s court filing include two homes in B.C. worth nearly $6 million.
Two years ago he signed a contract with the Sharks for $49 million.
According to the Athletic, Kane’s filing notes he may not play for his current team this season.
