Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane’s jersey retired in London

The Chicago Blackhawks are in Toronto for tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs. While in town, Patrick Kane made a pit stop to a London Knights game, where his jersey was retired.

Patrick Kane was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks with the first pick in the 2007 NHL draft. The season before he was drafted, he spent that time in the OHL with the London Knights. Kane didn’t go to college. He made the tough decision to leave home because he wanted to become an NHL player.

Whether Kane went to college or not, he still would have gone number one in the draft he decided to declare for. If anything, a college Kane might have put up even better numbers than the unreal OHL Kane we witnessed.

In Kane’s 58 game career, he put up 145 points. That wasn’t a misprint, we’re correct with that number. In 16 playoff games, Kane put up 31 points. Overall, in only one season in the OHL, Kane put up 176 points.

Kane getting his jersey retired after just one season of playing shows the kind of superstar he really is. He is already a first-ballot NHL Hall of Famer at 31. If he retired right now, he’d be put in as soon as he was eligible.

In fact, many years before we could have said the same thing. He’s that type of player where you don’t need many years to tell how good he really can be. He was a star since day one. What cemented his legacy was his 2013 season.

Kane has won countless awards as an NHL player. He’s had many great seasons and has done great things for the team. He will be the last player in Blackhawks’ history to wear the number 88. In around 10-15 years, Kane’s jersey will be up in the rafters with the likes of Michael Jordan, and his teammate Jonathan Toews. A few more Blackhawks from this past decade will be joining both of them too.

So, Kane is just two points away from getting his 1,000th career point. It’s almost fitting that he does it in Toronto, just two hours away from where he played junior hockey.

It’s fair to say in a few more years, Kane will be known as the best American born hockey player. Everything he’s done on the ice speaks for itself. He has nothing left to prove. He’s just setting records at this point. Hopefully, he can add another Stanley Cup before he retires. Four is a lot better than three.