Patrick Kane Is Playing Like The Defending Hart Trophy Winner

Patrick Kane is the defending Hart Trophy Winner as the NHL MVP, and since February 1st he’s showing everyone why he won the award last year. 

The first few months of the Chicago Blackhawks season was pretty much a drag to those that watch on a regular basis.

Sure, they were winning games at their normal clip, but something was missing.  They were winning a lot of 2-1 games with a lot of help from Corey Crawford.

From October to January I kept saying that we continue to wait for Patrick Kane to get hot even if it wouldn’t approach last years totals.  Last season, Kane was the only player to hit the 100 point plateau let alone the 90 point total as he easily won the Hart trophy with him scoring 46 times and adding 60 assists.

The thing was through the first 52 games he just wasn’t scoring like he normally does. Kane only had 15 goals in those first 52 games although he was still picking up points with a bunch of assists.

Then the calendar turned to February and Kane is hotter than a firecracker scoring 14 goals in the next 13 games including his 3rd and 4th career hat tricks.

Of course, Kane’s breakout is solely on him playing at a higher level. It can quickly relate to the emergence of Nick Schmaltz and the return of Jonathan Toews with Richard Panik on the top line.

With the top line producing, the opposition hasn’t been able to stack up their defensive forwards and best defensive pairing solely against the “2nd line” of the Chicago Blackhawks.  This has opened up the ice for Kane, and when the ice opens up and Kane gets some confidence and his Showtime Mojo going, things get scary around the NHL!

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Kane is now 2nd in the NHL in points behind only Connor McDavid, and Kane has been gaining each week on the young Edmonton superstar.  Let’s get something straight though. Even though Kane is the defending Hart trophy winner, he will have to surpass McDavid by a bunch to win Back to Back Hart trophies.

Next: Looking back at the Blackhawks win in Smashville

That being said, the only trophy that the Chicago Blackhawks really worry about is the Stanley Cup, and with Kane playing like a Hart Trophy Candidate the Hawks hot play can last the rest of the spring!