With the final hours winding down on the greatest decade in Blackhawks history, Patrick Kane wasn’t quite ready for it to end.
He and Duncan Keith spent a few moments before Tuesday’s game against the Flames reminiscing about the last 10 years and reminding each other there was still time left on the clock, still one more game to be played.
“We’ve had some pretty good memories, some great times,” Kane said.“Done some pretty amazing things as a group.
Some guys have done amazing things individually as well. It’s been a fun 10 years.
It’s pretty crazy to think 10 years have gone by this fast, but I think we’re all … looking forward to thinking what the next decade brings.”
Kane, 31, was referring to what the Blackhawks hope to accomplish as a team in the next decade, but his personal success is more connected to team success than ever.
When the decade began, Kane was a big part of the Hawks’ famous core that included Keith, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Brent Seabrook and Patrick Sharp.
He produced consistently but he wasn’t counted on to carry the team night after night. Toews, Hossa and Sharp each led the Hawks in scoring in the first half of the decade.
That has all changed.
After leading the Hawks in scoring just three times in his first eight seasons, Kane has led the Hawks each of the last five seasons, including through 40 games this season.
He leads the Hawks in goals (20) and assists (27), and his 47 points are 19 more than Toews, the team’s No 2 scorer.
“I still think there’s more in the tank, to be honest with you,” Kane said. “I still think there’s another level to get to.
The position we’re in, kind of near that wild-card spot now and the team’s playing better, it’d be nice for myself to reach that level this year and keep producing for this team.
But that’s been my job since I’ve been in the league is to be an offensive guy and be counted on to produce.”
That’s why Kane will finish the decade with the most points of any player.
He had 798 points (313 goals, 485 assists) in 741 games before Tuesday’s game, 10 points more than Sidney Crosby’s 788 points (296 goals, 492 assists) in 630 games.
“That’s a cool accomplishment, even though I think I played like 100 more games than Crosby,” Kane said.
Not much gets past Kane, including the recent rankings of the decade’s best players that didn’t seem to appreciate him as much as Hawks fans do.
ESPN ranked him No 9, while NBC Sports had him at No 15 behind, among others, Victor Hedman, Zdeno Chara as well as Toews and Keith.
While those lists were blowing up on social media, he tried to not to pay much attention.
But it wasn’t easy because his phone was blowing up as well.
“It’s hard not to (notice) when people are sending you messages and texting you about it,” Kane said. “It is what it is. I guess everyone has their own opinion. I’m sure other people have other lists where I’d be higher or maybe even lower. Who knows? But they’re just lists and you can’t really do anything about it or throw a fit about it or get mad about it or anything.”
And what was the general tone of the messages from his friends?
“Poke fun, p****d off, mad about it,” he said. “To me it’s just in one ear and out the other.”
Kane will head to St. Louis in January to make his sixth straight All-Star Game appearance and ninth overall.
He understands why Alex Ovechkin is choosing to sit out the All-Star Game to give his body a rest even if it means a one-game suspension from the Capitals’ next regular-season game.
But Kane said he wouldn’t consider doing that with the Hawks, unlike the first-place Capitals, fighting for a playoff berth.
“If I ever wanted to go about something like that, especially with the position the team’s in, I would feel pretty guilty missing (a regular-season) game,” Kane said. “Especially when you’re healthy.”
It’s that devotion to the game that makes it possible to envision Kane still playing in the NHL when Dec
31, 2029, rolls around.
“Love playing hockey so can’t imagine in 10 years from now I’ll feel any differently or I won’t love the game anymore,” he said. “I guess we’ll see what happens.”