There was a great deal of despair back about the Windy City in late February, when Patrick Kane, the star winger/noted party animal/friend of Chicago taxi drivers everywhere required surgery on his left clavicle, and faced a lengthy time on the sidelines right when the Blackhawks really needed him the most.
Initially, the diagnosis was twelve weeks, which would have had Kane returning sometime around the last week of May. So, imagine everyone’s surprise when the Blackhawks named Kane for game one of their first round series against Nashville.
The Predators were warmish favourites with the pundits, and some outside of Chicago saw the move to bring Kane back as a last-ditch attempt to somehow spark their season. Blackhawks doctors had predicted a twelve-week recovery. Surely he wasn't fit? Surely he wouldn’t be able to play like he has in recent playoff runs? Surely the Blackhawks are insane for risking him?
As it turns out, the answers to the above are: Kane was very fit, Kane was certainly able to replicate his form from recent playoff runs – and continues to – and, most importantly, it would appear that the Blackhawks organisation knew the status of one of their franchise building blocks better than anyone who plods along outside the four walls of the United Centre. Imagine that?
Patrick Kane is a gun, a legitimate superstar in a league where too many players are undeservedly given that tag. In the first two rounds of the playoffs – in which the Blackhawks first dealt a 4-2 series loss to the highly-fancied Predators and then ran a line through Central Division rivals the Minnesota Wild, ousting them in four straight games – Kane has been arguably the best of a very good Chicago team.
Most of Kane’s goals have been SportsCentre Plays of the Day-worthy stuff, and they’ve come at the most opportune moments for the ‘Hawks. He scored the lone goal against Minnesota in a Game 3 win in the Twin Cities. Based on what we were told after he sustained the injury back in February, that game-winning goal came about two weeks before Kane was expected to return. Initial estimates had him back on the ice after for the Western Conference Final, if Chicago made it that far.
Well, they have, and it’s largely thanks to Kane. He has a lucky thirteen points (seven goals and six assists) in his last ten games, and has scored at least two points in three of the last five games. The guy who wasn't supposed to return until during or after the Western Conference Final propelled his ‘Hawks there with a scintillating display they’ll be talking about in Chicago for a long time to come.
The seven-week playoff injury seems to not have affected Kane at all. In fact, there’s a line of thought that Kane is fresher now than he might otherwise have been, all because he hasn’t risked his body down the stretch run. The clavicle injury didn’t stop him from skating, so he could at least continue to skate and generally keep himself in shape whilst the bone healed. That’s been a massive deal in terms of getting #88 back up to speed.
Let’s not forget that Kane was tied with Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom for most points in the league with 64 and leading all Chicago scorers with 27 goals, so it’s not a huge surprise to see him come back and, basically, pick up where he left off. It wasn't like he had to shake a giant form slump or anything.
About period into the opening game against Nashville, and it seemed like Kane was back to his old self – to the delight of Chicago fans everywhere. He had two assists in that game, and displayed everything we love about him: a nothing-to-something burst of speed, the smooth hands and the wicked shot that’s tormented goalies and defenceman so often these playoffs.
All it takes is just a glimmer, and Kane, in his rich vein of form, is more likely than not to bury the puck. His ability to make highlight reel moves in playoff hockey, where guys need to be able to operate with less space, leading to regular season stars having scoring trouble in the playoffs, is unparalleled. His ability to score timely goals – just when the ‘Hawks are crying out for one – is also quite incredible.
Make no mistake, Chicago are up to their eyeballs on the race to hoist the Stanley Cup. They used Kane’s stint on injury reserve to make deadline deals with defenceman Kimmo Timonen, Antoine Vermette and Andrew Desjardins. Those acquisitions have helped make a deep Blackhawks team even deeper, and when Kane has a strong playoff run, the Blackhawks invariably go deep. Since 2010, they’ve won two Stanley Cup championships, were ousted in game seven of the Western Conference Final last year, and are headed to the West decider again this year.
Handling Chicago is scary proposition for either Anaheim or Calgary. Worse, they get a rested Kane, fresh from a series sweep, whilst whomever comes out of the Ducks/Flames series is going to do so on a short turnaround. There’s nothing like a few days to rest up and recuperate between playoff series.
Goaltending issues that plagued Chicago during their first round series – both Corey Crawford and Scott Darling both saw action, and neither looked particularly safe between the pipes – seem to have dissipated, with Crawford playing the entire Minnesota series. That was about Chicago’s only chink in the armour. Defence, led by Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith, is among the strongest in the entire NHL, and we know about their cabal of forwards: Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Brad Richards, Brandon Saad and more.
If I were coaching any of the other teams still remaining in the playoffs, I’d be very worried about the Blackhawks right now. They know what they’re doing, and they’re hitting ominous form at the right time.
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