Patrick Kane aims for Olympic gold in his possible final season
In his 19th season in the NHL, Patrick Kane has conquered almost everything: three Stanley Cups, a top scorer title, a regular season MVP award, and another for the playoffs. However, there is an achievement that the 36-year-old player still yearns for.Kane, who will turn 37 in November, is close to achieving this, as he was one of 44 players invited by Team USA to its Olympic orientation camp this week in Plymouth, Michigan. The 2026 Milan Games will mark the first time in 12 years that the NHL will send players to the Olympics. Kane, now with the Detroit Red Wings after 16 years in Chicago, is seeking his third Olympic appearance, after participating in the 2010 Vancouver Games (where he won silver) and Sochi 2014. Several players have admitted that they support Kane to be part of the team. “I think everyone here is a fan of Patrick Kane,” said Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin. “Many of the younger players, including myself, admire him, we all wanted to be Patrick Kane. He is very important to our sport, especially for US hockey.” However, Kane does not want to be selected based on past achievements or name recognition.“I look at my career and what I’ve accomplished, and the only thing missing is the gold in the best against the best,” Kane commented. “So it would be fun to have that opportunity.”
Patrick Kane
Team USA general manager Bill Guerin told Alofoke Deportes last winter that Kane was among the last and most difficult cuts for the Four Nations team. Guerin personally met with Kane in Detroit to give him the news.“I don’t want that to be a factor, where you’re selected for the team because of all that,” Kane said. “You want to be selected for the player you are now and what you can bring to the team now.”
Patrick Kane
Kane explained that he finally understood why he wasn’t selected: in his first full season after hip resurfacing surgery, Kane scored only three goals and 10 points in his first 20 games before the rosters were announced.“You respect the gesture of them coming and telling you in person, but it’s still disappointing,” Kane said. “I remember we played Pittsburgh maybe a week or two later, and then [former coach Mike] Sullivan wanted to talk to me after as well. It was like, it rubs it in even more.”
Patrick Kane
In a way, Kane was a victim of the moment. The Red Wings fired coach Derek Lalonde in favor of Todd McLellan on December 26, and Kane finished the season with 16 goals and 45 points in his last 43 games.“I really didn’t expect to get there the way I was playing, with how many good American players there are,” Kane said. “I definitely don’t want that to happen again, to be in a situation where I’m not playing that well and get left out because of it, right? I just want to put myself in the best possible position and make it, I want to get off to a good start to the year and maybe force the hand a little bit.”
Patrick Kane
Kane said he followed the Four Nations, cheering on the Americans from his vacation in Mexico, and was impressed by the high level of competition. “I found myself in Cabo watching television; I was probably the only person there doing that,” he said.“I have nothing against Derek Lalonde, but it was a different system. We played very safe, there wasn’t too much risk in our game,” Kane said. “I don’t blame any of that. I didn’t play that well either. But we made a coaching change, we became more aggressive, our power play started to heat up. It was fun to see things take off and have the coach’s confidence down the stretch, where I was playing important minutes.”
Patrick Kane
Team USA has until early January to submit its roster for Milan. The Olympics allow for 25-player rosters, compared to the 23 allocated for the Four Nations. Kane and defenseman Ryan McDonough are the only survivors from the 2014 Olympic team who were invited to this week’s camp.
The United States hasn’t won men’s Olympic gold since the famous Miracle on Ice team of 1980. Despite losing to Canada in the Four Nations final, the Americans are riding high: In May, the United States took gold at the World Championship for the first time since 1933.Kane has other milestones within reach this season: he is eight goals away from scoring his 500th career goal, 32 points away from surpassing Mike Modano for second place in points in the NHL by a US-born player, and 48 points away from Brett Hull as the all-time leader. Meanwhile, he is tasked with helping the Red Wings break their nine-year playoff drought, which is the longest in franchise history. Kane re-signed a one-year contract with incentives in Detroit this summer, where he is paid a base salary of $3 million and up to $4 million in additional bonuses.“I’ve been to orientation camps in 2010 and 2014 and it was the same message everyone mentions about the 1980 team and how much time has passed,” Kane said. “So, that’s it for expectations: gold and trying to overcome the Canada hurdle.”
Patrick Kane
“It could be a great year if I get off to a good start,” Kane said. “And making the Olympic team here, that would really be the icing on the cake.”
Patrick Kane
