PUCK DADDY:

Kane and Toews: Marriage of convenience?

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are married.

That's according to [Buffalo news station] who have proof in the form of a marriage certificate, a You Can Play video featuring Kane, Toews and wedding rings, and a statement presented without comment by their agent, Pat Brisson.

Do North American sports have their first gay marriage? Can the NHL hold up Kane and Toews as an example of progression? Just two months ago, Patrick Kane was more famous for his [drunken antics] in Madison than for the entire season on ice.

While it's true that Kane could do with Captain Serious' own brand of off-ice control, I wonder if perhaps this marriage is timed for a reason.

They're to be congratulated on this gutsy move, coming just before their conference in Chicago and giving it time to breathe before the start of the new season, but is this seemingly perfect timing as legitimate as the wedding certificate?

It's obvious that Kane has no problem letting people think he's good with the ladies, if his antics during Cinco de Mayo are to be believed, yet the story we are fed through their statement is months and years of figuring their relationship out.

There's no reason to believe that this wedding wasn't planned months ago and Madison was Kane's last ditch attempt at singledom. However, with trade rumours accompanying Kane more often than not these days, perhaps this marriage is a pre- emptive strike on Jonathan Toews' part to keep his wayward forward's focus out of the spotlight and back onto the ice where it belongs.