Chicago ? For almost two years, the thing the Blackhawks did best, even better than playing hockey, was image-shaping.

With potter’s hands, President John McDonough deftly worked the clay of public opinion. After being hired in November 2007, almost everything he touched became a thing of beauty. He put home games on television. He welcomed back Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Tony Esposito and other team legends who had felt like outsiders. The United Center started doing a pretty good imitation of rowdy Chicago Stadium. This year, the Hawks played the Red Wings at Wrigley Field on New Year’s Day, creating warm memories.

And the young team was very good, unexpectedly going to the Western Conference finals last season.

All of which makes the last month so bizarre. To say the Hawks have handled things clumsily in the offseason would be an understatement, starting with the bumbling of free-agent contract offers, the “reassignment” of former general manager Dale Tallon and the decision not to reveal new Hawk Marian Hossa’s shoulder injury.

So when Patrick Kane and his cousin were arrested in Buffalo early Sunday for allegedly assaulting a cab driver over a small amount of money, it made a bad offseason worse. McDonough and the Hawks have little control over what players do off the ice, but the fact one of their two bright young stars is involved in such a messy situation is another unsavory development for a franchise that has lived in Disney World for most of the last two years.

How did the Hawks market Kane? As the childlike face of the franchise. The kid who couldn’t grow a playoff beard. The ultra-talented wing who looked like the boy next door.

And maybe he still is all that, but Sunday’s news is a reminder that sometimes PR restraint isn’t such a bad thing, especially involving a young adult. It wouldn’t have changed the cabbie incident, but it might have lessened some of the adverse reaction: Cute, angelic Patrick Kane did what?

The problem with exuberant image-making is the fallout when reality doesn’t quite match the sales job. The message behind almost everything McDonough has done since arriving on Madison Street is “family.”

So when the Kane news broke Sunday, maybe this whole good-feeling era was simply a storefront frame with nothing behind it but prairie.

We don’t know all the details of what happened Sunday morning in Buffalo, and it’s unfair to place blame at Kane’s skates. But it’s worth noting that one of the unspoken selling points of the NHL is, We’re not like those other dysfunctional sports.

Apparently, once in a while, you are.

The Kane incident is not unlike the Internet photo of the Bulls’ Derrick Rose flashing gang signs. Both are 20, and both need to be smarter about avoiding bad situations. People do stupid things at that age, and most of those stupid things thankfully go unnoticed. But everything Kane does will be noticed. It’s the price of stardom.

As for the Hawks, maybe this is an opportunity to tone down some of the circus-is-coming publicity.

The Hawks can’t try to sell themselves as one thing and then act another way in real life. How about this revolutionary thought: Just focus on winning.