Yahoo Sports Kane Enters Year Two in Detroit "Motivated for More"
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — A year ago, Patrick Kane—then fresh off hip resurfacing surgery, which delayed his debut until early January—exceeded every reasonable expectation in his first season as a Detroit Red Wing. Now, fresh off the summer of "training like an athlete" he'd longed for during the previous summers of rehabbing the nagging hip, Kane's intent is to build on last season, not cost off of it.
When asked about his primary motivation for returning to the Red Wings this summer as unrestricted free agent, Kane replied, "How close we were last year, just looking back on the season. There's obviously things that you think about when you're potentially signing a new contract, and when I was looking back, there was some great moments for me personally and for the team. The excitement around the team, the way I fit in for the team, my role and what was expected of me here, I think was something I enjoy as well."
"The last couple years, you still feel in some respects like you're a Blackhawk, right?" explained Kane of the road to his current state of clarity. "Even when you go to New York or last year when I was in Detroit. There's still that sense that you're somewhat of a Blackhawk, and for me now, the page is officially turned, so it's nice to be here in Detroit and build on what I was able to do last year and what the team was able to do and be a Red Wing, and I definitely feel like one now."
Kane's impact has been felt by his teammates and Red Wing fans alike. After a stirring OT win over Colorado last February, captain Dylan Larkin said that he and his teammates had been referring to the energy at Little Caesars Arena as "the Kaner Effect." Today, on the first day of training camp, Larkin spoke to the respect Kane commands in the dressing room, saying"Kaner...When he speaks up in our room—and to be honest with you before playing with him last year I didn't know he was like that—but he will stand up, and he will say things, and when he talks, people listen. He's earned that in this league and especially with our team, so to see that he wanted to come back and know that he had a full summer of training, he's gonna get a full camp in, I'm very excited for him."
After that lofty praise, Larkin was quick to point out that he sees no instinct from Kane toward resting on laurels; instead, per Larkin, "I know he's motivated for more. He's motivated to make the U.S. team, I'm sure of that. I haven't talked to him about that, but someone like him deserves to be on that team and probably be the captain of that team, so ...[I'm] expecting him to be a big impact player like he was last year."
Derek Lalonde offered a similar picture in describing Kane's form to open the year. "Patrick individually had a really good summer," the Red Wings coach said. "Today's NHL, expectations of players in the summer they come into camp pretty ready, but I think Patrick really took advantage of having a full summer. He had a lot of pop throughout practice, right through the end, which is exciting to see."
For Kane, training like an athlete over the summer meant more: "More resistance, more weight behind the exercises, obviously more full body stuff not just focused necessarily on the hip. Obviously that's an important piece of the body for me, but it was nice to be able to go into the gym feeling good and ready for the workout and be ready to train...That was definitely a fun part of the summer for me."
On day one of camp, the three-time Stanley Cup champion skated on a line with some familiar faces. On his opposite wing was Vladimir Tarasenko, former Central Division rival-turned New York Ranger teammate-turned teammate once more in Detroit. Down the middle skated J.T. Compher, with whom Kane played often a year ago and spent the summer training.
"I think he's a great shooter, and he's similar to [Alex] DeBrincat in a way where he's able to find open areas and get his shot off quickly, so hopefully if I'm controlling the puck, [I] can find him in certain areas where he can have a good chance to score," Kane said, when asked about the prospect of skating opposite Tarasenko. "I think we know each other from our time in New York as well, so pretty familiar with the personality and the way he wants to play. We're both right wingers so it'll be a little bit different to see who's gonna move over to the left or what we're gonna do in that respect, but playing with J.T. and Vladdy, there's obviously a lot of potential there."
Of Compher, Kane said, "he's a great player. He's had a lot of success as well in his career. I thought we had some good moments together last year. We skated a lot in Chicago [over the summer]. Pretty much every time we were on the ice, we were on the ice together, so we were working on building that chemistry as well. He's a guy that can make plays. He's good defensively, good on face-offs, and has the ability to see the game and make plays by slowing down the game, which is pretty rare these days. The game is so fast and so straight ahead, and for him to be able to play fast but also be able to slow it down is something you're always looking for in a center."
[Read More "The Player He's Been: On Unforgiven, Anti-Heroes, and Patrick Kane & Steve Yzerman’s Uncertain Optimism"]
The continuity derived from another year in Detroit means an increased sense of comfort with teammates and coaches. It also corresponds to a reinvigorated sense of purpose. It's not that Kane wants to spend the entire year transfixed on the playoffs, but, given the difficulty of the task at hand, a sense of urgency will be necessary from the jump.
"You don't wanna think about it right away," Kane said. "Obviously that's our goal. I think everyone knows that we want to make the playoffs, but there's steps to be made to get there...In a new season, we're not just gonna be guaranteed to be potentially in the playoff race. We have to work for it. We play in a really tough division. We have a tough schedule to start the season with some of the teams we play, so I think the focus should be more on the start, getting off to a good start and put ourselves in a position that if there's some lulls or dips throughout the season, we have that little bit of a cushion...I think there's a lot of energy and excitement about being here in camp and getting better as a team and potentially reaching that goal."
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