Chicago Blackhawks: In Season Review – Patrick Kane

The Chicago Blackhawks were not achieving the type of success they sought so far this year, but that didn’t stop Patrick Kane from racking up another stellar season along the way.

At 31 years old, Patrick Kane is now amongst the oldest players on this Chicago Blackhawks roster. Yet, he still manages to make the game look effortless with every pass, shot, and dangle down the ice. Which is not to say that he isn’t trying, it’s actually quite the opposite. He’s worked so hard at his craft, that he’s simply on another level of play than most he competes against.

Kane continually sees the game differently, is able to create plays others can’t, and gets results the Blackhawks wouldn’t otherwise enjoy without him. And it shows.

Having this type of talent is a treat for fans to watch. It’s also an understatement that his teammates enjoy any chance they get to play alongside him, as well. As he’s always a threat on the ice, typically one of the best that’s out there at any time, whoever he is playing with is destined to experience an elevation in their game. They’ll either be the beneficiary of an impossibly accurate tape to tape pass that they can tap in for a goal, or get to be part of a playmaking experiment that only Kane would be creative enough to pull off. When he succeeds, his teammates do too.

Throughout the first 70 games of the NHL’s 2019-20 schedule, Kane had played in every single one. Before the season was set to pause, he was leading the Blackhawks in goals (33), assists (51), points (84), power-play assists (15), shots (275), and average time on ice amongst forwards (21:20).

Kane’s production was helping keep this team afloat, in an otherwise sinking season. From a general production perspective, this was also shaping up to be Kane’s third-best over his career thus far as he was averaging 1.2 points per game.

Making this season an even more special one for Kane, the London Knights retired his number 88 on January 17, 2020, to honour his achievements while playing with the organization in his junior years. Then, as if this was destined to be a fairytale storyline type season, he recorded his 1,000th NHL point a couple of days later on January 19, 2020 in a 5-2 victory of the Winnipeg Jets.

The Chicago Blackhawks have committed to some questionable contracts in recent years, but Kane’s AAV of $10,500,000 per year until 2022-23 may turn out to be a better deal than anyone could have anticipated. He has already proven to be worth every penny with the success he’s brought this franchise to date and his 2019-20 campaign helps to further justify that stance.

Needless to say, although Chicago hasn’t achieved much success as a team throughout this season, that hasn’t stopped Patrick Kane from contributing in milestone worthy fashion. Luckily for the organization and its fans, he doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon either.