DANDY KANE!
Nearing 30, Hawks veteran off to hottest start of his career
It wasn’t one of Patrick Kane’s more impressive goals. There was no breathtaking burst of speed or dazzling display of stickhandling. No “oohs” or “aahs” from the United Center crowd at all, in fact.
Kane did backhand the puck between his legs and into the Rangers’ net with less than five minutes to play in Thursday’s 4-1 victory. It’s not really as fancy as it sounds, though. He was pushed into the crease by defenseman Brendan Smith and just sort of came upon the puck as it trickled behind a prostrate Henrik Lundqvist. The goalie never had a chance.
“I was celebrating, and no one was reacting, so I was like, ‘Did I just miss that?’ ” Kane said. “I didn’t even know if it went in.”
What stood out most about the goal was that it was his ninth of the season in only 10 games. The last Hawks player to accomplish that feat was Jeremy Roenick in 1993-94.
Kane entered the weekend one off the league lead, which is shared by the Bruins’ David Pastrnak and the Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews. He also ranked at the top of the league in shots taken with 53, which certainly has helped the scoring cause. The 12th-year forward has been efficient, though, making 17 percent of his shots. His career best for a full season was 16 percent in 2015-16, when he lit the lamp a career-high 46 times.
“I mean, he’s pretty good,” Corey Crawford said. “And he’s always hungry to do more. He never really seems like he’s satisfied. He’s one of the best players in the game, one of the best playmakers. And he’s been doing it for years. He can change a game [just] like that. We’re just lucky to have him on our team.”
Kane already has a pair of two-goal games
and a pair of game-winners. For a seventime All-Star whose goal totals have been on the decline — from 46 to 34 to 27 over the last three seasons — this early burst has been a most welcome development.
Then again, some of his teammates didn’t even realize something out of the ordinary was unfolding.
“Oh, really? I just thought [this] was par for the course for him,” Jonathan Toews said. “As good as he is, he’s as consistent as they come. He’s having the best start of his career, and I didn’t even realize it. I just thought this is how Kaner plays, and it’s what we’ve come to expect from him.”
Can Kane, who turns 30 in November, make a run at the numbers he posted in that 46-goal campaign? He totaled 106 points — tops in the NHL — and won the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. It was his first triple-digit points season and the first by any Hawks player since Roenick had 107 in 1993-94.
That was the third straight — and final — trip over the century mark for Roenick with the Hawks. He was only 23 years old when that season began.
“He was a great player,” Kane said. “He had an unbelievable career. He scored 50 a couple of times [53 in 199192 and 50 in 1992-93], so that’s nice to be mentioned in a category with a name like that.
“And I [know] it’s a good start.
But you want to keep building off it and not be satisfied.”
“HE WAS A GREAT PLAYER. HE HAD AN UNBELIEVABLE CAREER. HE SCORED 50 A COUPLE OF TIMES, SO THAT’S NICE TO BE MENTIONED IN A CATEGORY WITH A NAME LIKE THAT.”
PATRICK KANE, who matched Jeremy Roenick (right) in 1993-94 with nine goals in the first 10 games of the season