What Is Kane Able To Say About Cabbiegate?

At an Olympic photo-op Monday, the Blackhawk's star will face the cameras

Plan your Monday accordingly.

The silence over Cabbiegate will be broken shortly after 9 a.m. when Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane makes his first pubic statement since his Aug. 9 fracas with a cab driver in Buffalo. 

Kane wouldn't be in the hot seat were it not for a previously scheduled appearance with 34 NHL players at the U.S. Olympic Orientation Camp at Seven Bridges Ice Arena in Woodridge. 

Before they go about sorting out who will play for the United States in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the 20-year-old Blackhawk star will address a barrage of cameras and reporters about the pending court case.  

What's unclear is how much he'll be able to say since there is a pending grand jury investigation and his attorney, Daniel Barry Jr., has declined to comment so far.

Buffalo police charged Kane and a 21-year-old cousin, James, with felony robbery and misdemeanor counts of theft and criminal mischief early Sunday after cab driver Jan Radecki, 62, told officers the Kanes beat him up during a dispute over the fare. The police report said Radecki didn't have the correct change for $15 on a $13.80 fare for taking the brothers to a city address after a early morning pickup at a nightclub. 

Both Kanes pleaded not guilty after spending a couple of hours in jail. The NHL player's attorney, Paul Cambria, says Kane did not commit any crime and will be exonerated.

In the days following the incident, the Buffalo News reported Radecki had two previous drunken driving convictions and no valid driver's license. His lawyer began backing off the assault allegation. 

"It was not really a robbery. That is probably a large distortion of what happened," Andrew LoTempio told WGN radio last week. "There was a dispute over the fee and it just kind of escalated from there."

"Nobody's rushing to judgment here," the prosecutor said last week. "The case will be presented in a fair and professional manner to an Erie County grand jury and they will make whatever decision they will make.

Patrick Kane was the first overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft and won the Calder Trophy, given to the league's best rookie, in 2008.

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