Kings fans donate to Edmonton girl's charity drive after Kane calls out abuse in L.A.

Cecily Eklund is greeted by Oilers forward Evander Kane in a photo posted to Twitter on April 22, 2023. (Source: @simply_cecily)

Oilers sniper Evander Kane says he is "disgusted and appalled" by the way some people in Los Angeles treated a 10-year-old Oilers fan who travelled south to cheer on her team.

Cecily Eklund was diagnosed with brain cancer when she was just six.

Since then, she's raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Stollery Children's Hospital and formed a close friendship with Kane.

Eklund was in L.A. for Game 3 Friday night between the Oilers and Kings, when Kane claims she was subjected to abuse inside Crypto.com Arena.

"I'm disgusted and appalled at what happened to this amazing little girl in the stands and in a woman's restroom where she was harassed for wearing her jersey and was spit on by an LA fan for doing so," Kane wrote on Instagram.

"This type of behaviour is gross and completely unacceptable. For any young girl especially someone battling cancer to be treated in such a manner is pathetic. Grow up and as this smart young lady always says BE KIND!"

Eklund's Twitter account didn't specifically address Kane's allegations, but urged fans "to be kind and be happy."

"If you go to the Oilers game come see me tonight! I’ll be selling bracelets helping other kids go on magical experiences," it said.

'I WAS COMPLETELY DISGUSTED'

Kane's post caught the attention of Zach Lyttle, a Kings fan in California.

He has a four-year-old son and said he was "furious" to hear a child was treated that way.

"I was completely disgusted by the behaviour of it, because that's not who we are as hockey fans, as Kings fans here in L.A.," Lyttle told CTV News Edmonton Tuesday.

"All my friends here are super welcoming to the visiting teams. We get that playoffs get heated, but that's still no excuse."

Lyttle shared Eklund's donation page on his Twitter account and urged fans to "show her what real Kings fans are like."

"We can't speak for the person who did this. We don't know them and that's their business. But this is the least we can do. We can donate, we can spread her message around, we can say, ‘Hey, we support you, Cecily,'" Lyttle said.

Kings fans appear to have responded to Lyttle's call.

His tweet was liked and shared hundreds of times and thousands of dollars in donations poured in after it was posted, many of them referring to what happened in L.A.

"My apologies for the horrible behavior of some Kings fans," Bryan wrote along with a $25 donation.

"From a Kings fan, we support your wonderful efforts!" J. Jones wrote.

"As a long time Kings fan, I apologize for the rudeness shown by a very insensitive person. I can assure you, the true Kings fans are not indicative of the one you experienced. Keep up the good fight," Larry wrote.

CTV News Edmonton has reached out to the Eklund family for more information on this story.

Game 5 between the Oilers and Kings starts at 7:30 p.m. MT.