In a sport where the veterans are expected to carry the workload – and a fully grown playoff beard – it’s the kids with the peach fuzz that have fans singing the Blackhawks’ praises in Chicago. And thanks to Hawks forward Patrick Kane, Chicago is looking like a Cup favorite this year.
The 20-year-old Kane has shown flashes of brilliance in his young career, but he is slowly emerging into one of the premier forwards in the game today. In a way, looking at Kane is like looking at the Joel Brodsky photos of rock legend Jim Morrison in 1967 in what is known as the “Young Lion” session – you just know that this kid is destined for greatness.
Call it coincidence, but Kane’s ascension to the National Hockey League was foretold long before he pulled on the jersey of the Chicago Blackhawks when he went first overall in 2007. Before that, the Buffalo native sported the jersey of his hometown Sabres, perched on his father’s lap behind the glass in a 1994 Pinnacle hockey card. He looked the same then as he didMonday night: all smiles.
Kane and the Blackhawks have every reason to smile these days. This season Chicago announced a triumphant return to the forefront of the hockey world, led by players such as Kane and 21-year-old captain Jonathan Toews. Kane put on a performance for the ages in Game 6, potting his first career hat trick en route to a 7-5 Blackhawks win over Vancouver that catapulted the team into the Western Conference final for the first time in over a decade.
For a brief moment, as Kane backhanded the puck over Canucks’ goalie Roberto Luongo for his third goal of the evening, it seemed as if all the turmoil and demons that had plagued the franchise for the past decade were finally exorcised.
The team is now a model for success in the salary cap era of the NHL. But things weren’t exactly perfect when the team emerged from the lockout; namely, the Hawks’ owner, William “Dollar Bill” Wirtz. Wirtz’s refusal to air Blackhawks home games drove more fans away than it brought in. The team also spent big money on several free agents that flopped, before general manager Dale Tallon got it right.
Now, the Hawks are sitting pretty atop what has arguably been a dream season. The team has seemingly done everything right since the passing of Wirtz. Wirtz’s son Rocky is now running things in Chicago, and the team brought in former Chicago Cubs President John McDonough to turn things around. Every game has been televised this year, so a whole new generation of fans can fall in love with a team built around a young core of Kane and Toews. Throw the Winter Classic in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field into the mix and you have yourself a season to remember.
And yet it all comes back to Kane. After winning the lottery in 2007, the Hawks picked Kane from the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. Kane had established himself as a fine sniper and dazzling playmaker in junior hockey, and he won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2008. His play this season has been spectacular, and the Hawks are the talk of the town in the Windy City.
The old Chicago Stadium was known for being one of the loudest buildings in all of hockey. Now that fans are packing the United Center, the nightly sellout crowd of over 20,000 may blow the roof off if Kane and the Hawks deliver another series victory in the Western finals. The Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings still need to finish off their series though to determine who will face the Blackhawks. They can take their time, though.
The Young Lion is waiting.
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