“Tragedy”: Oilers’ Evander Kane Mourns 11 Dead in Lapu Lapu Event Amidst NHL Playoffs

It is never easy to balance tragedy with celebration, but sometimes life is such that one must place value upon the successes while honoring what has been lost. Such is the case with Evander Kane’s Edmonton Oilers win in the wake of the car ramming attack at the Lapu Lapu Day celebrations in Vancouver. Evander Kane, a Vancouver native who grew up in the Sunset community of Vancouver, where just last night, after a daylong celebration of Filipino culture as a part of Lapu Lapu Day that commemorates Filipino resistance against Spanish colonization, an SUV rammed into the crowd, killing at least 11 people and injuring multiple others.

The depth of this tragedy on a day of celebration must be acknowledged, remembered, and spoken about. And Evander Kane, despite his own personal successes—i.e., following his long-awaited comeback, while the Edmonton Oilers secured an unexpected 7-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, also just last night—made it a point to share a statement about the massacre.

In a message penned and shared to his Instagram stories and Twitter page, Evander Kane wrote, “I am heartbroken by the beyond devastating tragedy that took place at the Lapu Lapu Festival in the Sunset community of Vancouver last evening. Sunset community is where I grew up, the Filipino community are some of the kindest people. My most sincere condolences to the victims and their families. My heart goes out to everyone impacted by this disgusting act. What a tragedy.”

The incident occurred just as the daylong celebrations were wrapping up, and eyewitness reports describe the scene that followed as “like a war zone.” Though it is unclear yet whether this incident was a premeditated hate crime, it has been confirmed that the suspect had prior run-ins with the police. And given Kane’s personal connection to the area and long record for standing up for social issues, it’s no surprise he’s done so yet again.

Evander Kane often uses his platform to spread awareness on issues of justice

Kane, who is one of the few athletes of color in the NHL, has been outspoken about matters of race for a long time. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in 2020, Evander Kane was clear about how he believed his fellow athletes should speak out about police brutality just as much as black athletes, as it would be the only real way to institute systemic change. “It’s time for guys like Tom Brady and Sidney Crosby and those types of figures to speak up about what is right, and clearly in this case, what is unbelievably wrong,” Kane had said at the time, urging his colleagues and fellow sportsmen to take a stand rather than stay in silence.

Kane also co-founded the Hockey Diversity Alliance along with Akim Aliu in 2020. The Alliance aimed to promote diversity and eradicate racism in hockey. However, Kane stepped down as co-head in 2023 owing to some internal disagreements with the administration.

Aside from all this, though, from Evander Kane using his platform as a celebrity or aligning himself with certain beliefs and truths that he speaks out for, there is this very simple aspect to his Instagram statement that might go unnoticed. This was a horrific tragedy in the neighborhood he grew up in, meaning he would have known the street, perhaps recognized some of the faces, and had his own memories of the Lapu Lapu festival, thereby giving us another reason to not simply dismiss this as yet another news report but to acknowledge the realities of it. Real life, real people, and real death.

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