Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane Crashes SportsNet Radio Show

The Chicago Blackhawks are no stranger to odd media appearances, and star winger Patrick Kane added to his personal list earlier today

If Patrick Kane wasn’t a hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks, what jobs could you see him holding? Barista? Lifetime student who crashes in a fraternity house? Jimmy Buffet cover band lead singer?

Frankly, it’s hard to imagine Kane doing anything other than playing hockey. That’s part of the reason it was so strange to see a man who looked oddly similar to Kane show up on SportsNet’s “Hockey Central At Noon” radio show — in construction worker gear.

Jeff Marek, Doug MacLean and Nick Kypreos are in the midst of their show when Kypreos notes a man in construction gear walking around just outside the set — though he says “I guarantee you that person is not a construction worker.”

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Said “construction worker” then enters the studio with a stepladder and drill, donning a hard hat and reflective vest. It becomes readily clear the man is Kane, and he proceeds to try and “fix” the SportsNet studio’s ceiling.

This was a call-back to mid-December, when part of the SportsNet studio ceiling actually gave way during a live broadcast, almost striking MacLean.

After Kypreos asks Kane if anyone tells him he looks a lot like that “Patrick from Chicago,” the four settle into a typical hockey interview. Kane and the Blackhawks are taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, so much of the discussion was on that.

Blackhawks have plenty of strange media appearances

The Blackhawks drafting Kane and Jonathan Toews in the mid-2000s started a franchise renaissance that has continued to this day.

But in this day and age of professional sports, that doesn’t mean you get to stick solely to on-ice activities. It also means you have to interact with the media and public in unique ways, to keep your team at the forefront of the league.

It’s hard to forget this terribly awkward phone commercial featuring Kane and Toews:

Here’s Kane and former teammate Patrick Sharp in a behind-the-scenes look at a Qdoba commercial I had no idea existed:

Speaking of Sharp, here’s one of his many Illinois Lottery commercials while with the Blackhawks:

Sharp joined blueliners Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook for a pretty funny BMO Harris Bank commercial back in the day:

Here’s a short from Liberty Auto City, which no doubt paid out the nose for backup goaltender Scott Darling to say one word and shake his head:

Let’s not forget defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson not only trying to teach the Swedish language through an IKEA commercial …

… but also cooking some Swedish meatballs. The cooking was something that’d be taken up by Daniel Carcillo as well in a separate public appearance:

So it’s not just the bonafide stars who the Blackhawks have utilized for goofy public appearances and commercials. Of course, guys like Kane and Toews make for the most recognizable faces in such things.

Some of the things these Blackhawks have had to do are funny, and some are cringeworthy. Some can bring a tear to your eye, like the “What’s Your Goal” campaign. But it’s always entertaining to see the Blackhawks doing things like this, seeing them in an arena other than the one with which they’re most comfortable.