Tuesday ‘ambitious’ for Kane to make Wings debut; target is Thursday
Helene St. James
Patrick Kane’s debut with the Detroit Red Wings appears set to happen on home ice later this week, giving him just enough time to get used to working at Little Caesars Arena.
On Monday, Kane took part in his first full practice since signing with the Wings on Nov. 28.
“The thigh feels pretty good,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is just going to be getting up to game speed and NHL speed again. I don’t expect to play [Tuesday] but we’ll see what they think. I’m hoping Thursday.”
The Wings (13-7-3) play the Sabres (10-13-2) in Buffalo on Tuesday, then host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday and Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.
Kane, 35, underwent invasive hip surgery in June, which of itself makes for a challenging comeback. But he’s also trying to jump in when everyone else has been going for two months, and that is a tough ask of anybody.
“The exciting thing is my body feels good, so that’s a big step in that direction,” Kane said. “It might take some games to get up to speed and just playing at this level, so if it takes a couple weeks, that’s what it is. We’ll get there eventually.”
Kane reflected that in 2014 and 2015, “both playoffs, I missed the last like 20 games of the year for injuries and jumped right in, but that was a little bit different because you’re actually playing all year, and then you take 20 games off.
“This has been like six months.”
Kane likened this situation to learning the game again.”
He skated Monday on a line with Joe Veleno and former Chicago Blackhawks teammate Alex DeBrincat, but that was more a reflection of center J.T. Compher not practicing because of a maintenance day. Coach Derek Lalonde said he anticipates the forward group in Buffalo to be the same as the one that played in Saturday’s 5-4 overtime victory at the Montreal Canadiens.
“almost
Forward Patrick Kane
“I think [Tuesday] would be a little ambitious,” for Kane to play, Lalonde said. “I think ideally we’ll give him a morning skate and a similar practice in on Wednesday and go from there.
“This was his first practice in a long time. I think he needed those reps, five-on-five type reps.”
Kane will travel to Buffalo, his hometown, to at least take part in the morning skate, which will be his third since first joining his new teammates on the ice last week at Madison Square Garden. The Wings followed that New York appearance with a home game against, of all teams, the Blackhawks — the franchise which Kane became synonymous with during 15-plus seasons and three Stanley Cup championships.
Kane was dropped off by a car service outside LCA the night of the game, right into a throng of Blackhawks fans.
“It wasn’t really the best game to be walking around outside, with Chicago jerseys coming in and recognizing you,” he said. “You get out of the car and one person notices you and it’s tough after that.
“You try to keep your head down and keep walking, but I stopped and took a few pictures — maybe it’s 15, 20 people.”