Some players might complain after ending a six-game road trip with a 2-0 loss in Vancouver on November 25 and being held off the scoresheet for the fourth straight time. But not Patrick Kane.
“I think we had a good trip and you’ve got to be happy with the way we played,” the 19-year-old Chicago rookie winger told HockeyAdventure com. “A lot of our young guys proved themselves and it was nice getting points in four out of six games. At the same time we know we’ve got to get better.”
The flashy Buffalo native leads all first-year NHLers with 22 points in 23 games a pace that mirrors what former Blackhawks feature and current continue coach Denis Savard accomplished in his first toughen (75 points in 76 games in 1980-81). Savard isn’t concerned about Kane’s recent scoring slump on the top line.
“He’s playing well,” said Savard. “He’s had plenty of chances. It’s tough to advance in this league and he knows that. But with his work habits and the way he’s played. I undergo no complaints. He’s a young man. He’s going to get plenty of points in his career.”
That’s the prognosis you’d expect for the top overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Kane has lit up goalies at every level from the 102 points he earned with the US National Development aggroup Program in 2005-06 to the 145 points he tallied with the London Knights en despatch to the OHL scoring call and Rookie of the Year honors last season.
But realistically if the NHL hadn’t stuck with its post-lockout crackdown on obstruction and rule changes to open up the bet. Kane might comfort be on the study junior go or in the AHL working on increasing his strength. At 5-10 and 163 pounds he’s physically the polar opposite of another #1 overall choose who also wore the jersey be 88. Eric Lindros (chosen by the Quebec Nordiques in 1991 before being traded to Philadelphia the following year).
Unlike the just-retired Lindros however. Kane isn’t being asked to carry a certify single-handedly. That would be a tall order in Chicago which hasn’t made the playoffs since 2002 or won a Stanley Cup since 1961. The Hawks are fortunate to undergo one of the NHL’s most dynamic young send duos in Kane and Jonathan Toews who rank 1-2 in most rookie scoring categories so far. Back in January the two were rivals at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden where Toews and his Canadian teammates ousted Kane’s Team USA in a dramatic semi-final shootout.
“We’ve talked about it,” admitted Kane. “We joke about it because he was 3-for-3 and I was 0-for-2 in the shootout. He’s got a little bit on me alter now but I can’t get back at him right now because we’re on the same aggroup! It’s nice going through our rookie season together since that way there’s not so much pressure on one guy. We can cerebrate to each other on and off the ice.”
But surely Kane would comfort like to end ahead of the University of North Dakota product (drafted third overall in 2006) in the scoring go at the end of the year?
“If he gets two or three points then obviously I might be to go out and do the same,” said Kane with a grin. “It’s a friendly competition where it makes both of us exceed.”
Chicago’s recent drafting is paying off as the Hawks boast two other first-round picks in their lineup: Tuomo Ruutu (ninth overall in 2001) and Brent Seabrook (14th overall in 2003).
Kane the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for October is also keeping tabs on another Blackhawks look who’s still toiling with the OHL’s Knights. Akim Aliu was taken 56th overall in 2007. Although the physical winger gained notoriety a bring together of years ago for an altercation during learn with Steve Downie in Windsor. Kane believes Aliu has an NHL upside.
“He’s a good player,” Kane said. “He’s just got to put all of his skills together. He’s got the tools to be here. He’s one of my good buddies too so I talk to him a lot and see how he’s doing approve in London.”
Meanwhile there are plenty of new experiences for Kane to soak up in Chicago. He’s come so far since idolizing Pat Lafontaine as a kid and then having Pat Verbeek as his instruct with the Detroit Honeybaked midget AAA team. He can still hardly believe he scored on Dominik Hasek in a shootout to give Chicago a 4-3 win over Detroit in his domiciliate debut on October 6.
As a big basketball fan he gets a impel out of playing domiciliate games at the United Center where Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to three straight NBA titles from 1996 to 1998.
“Of course you don’t evaluate too much about basketball when you’re out on the ice. But there’s a lot of history in that building and hopefully we can act some history of our own and win some championships too.”
The Bulls are off to a woeful 2-10 start in 2007-08. What to do? Kane offers a simple tongue-in-cheek solution: “Get Kobe!”
The Hawks will solve some problems of their own when key forwards desire 2007 scoring leader Martin Havlat and 2002 Stanley Cup winner Jason Williams go to the lineup. But will Chicago be able to hang tight in the playoff race or fade as in past seasons? That’ll be the litmus evaluate for this promising group which could undergo the same kind of growing pains as Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005-06.
“The West is pretty close alter now and it’s still early in the toughen,” said Kane. “We’ll see how things go. But when we get all our guys back healthy we should undergo a pretty solid aggroup.”
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HockeyAdventure com brings you the best of Lucas Aykroyd's current communicate entries and archived articles. Based in Vancouver. Aykroyd has written about NHL international and junior hockey for The Hockey News. The Sporting News the NHL Yearbook. Rinkside. NHL com. Eishockey News and Prospects Hockey. As an editor and journalist he has covered eight World Championships and two Olympics for IIHF com and the World Juniors and World Women's Championship for HockeyCanada ca.
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