Edmonton Oilers star Evander Kane defended a 10-year-old cheerleader with cancer last week after she was allegedly jeered, spat on and abused at a Los Angeles Kings game by an unruly fan who had absolutely no regard for him. For human fitness. As Ken pointed out, it’s unfortunate to treat another human being who happens to be cheering on a fiercely rival team, but harsh treatment to a 10-year-old girl suffering from cancer.
In the wake of a social media message Kane posted, fans in both Edmonton and Los Angeles went up in a big way. On Wednesday, it was learned that the story took a more interesting turn.
The young fan was named Cecily Eklund and was front and center on Tuesday as the Oilers took on the Kings, winning Game 5 in decisive fashion. It was shown on the big screen at the match and fans erupted in support of it. It all came about after her mother reported that while she was in Los Angeles for Game Three, “there was a fight just two rows in front of Cecily, I spat on her and swore at her.” When Kane defended Cecily and called the fan’s behavior unacceptable (she was also verbally harassed for wearing an Oilers jersey while in the ladies’ restroom), he was met with hateful messages from some Los Angeles fans who targeted his past and blamed him for the fact that Cecily was abused. He posted one message on his feed as an example of how wild the Kings fans can be.
It was later learned that Global News had inquired about the company that hired the fan who posted the hate message and that the employee of the same name was no longer employed by the company. (We won’t be publishing this fan’s name for obvious reasons.) In short, she was fired for being a terrible person and her Instagram page has since been deleted.
While that was the downside to this story, there are some positives as well. As Cecily battles cancer, fans are coming forward, including some from Los Angeles who are donating to a fund that will help her cover the costs of her cancer treatment. One Twitter user wrote, “Hey Kings Twitter, this amazing, amazing hockey fan named Cecily, and she has cancer. Here is her donation page. Let’s show her what real Kings fans are like.” Fans have stepped up and her goal of the $30,000 she had from the Stollery fund that started is now over $50,000.
As a side note, the Kings and some of their fans seem to have sobered up and pissed off Evander Kane that he upped his game on the series. This is not good news for royalty.
Next: The Oilers make a wise choice to start Skinner in goal on Campbell