Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat spoke with the media today, and he spent quite a bit of time discussing his admiration for his friend and teammate, Patrick Kane, as noted by the Hockey News’s Connor Eargood:
“When he speaks up in our room—and to be honest with you before playing with him last year I didn’t know he was like that—but he will stand up, and he will say things, and when he talks, people listen,” [Red Wings captain Dylan] Larkin explained Thursday. “He’s earned that in this league and especially with our team, so to see that he wanted to come back and know that he had a full summer of training, he’s gonna get a full camp in, I’m very excited for him.”
For DeBrincat, the benefit of Kane isn’t just what he brings on the ice. He also credits Kane as a key mentor for cracking it in the NHL way back when he was a rookie.”He’s taught me so much, on the ice and off the ice” DeBrincat said. “I think off the ice, he treats his body really well. And he eats the right stuff and he does whatever he can to get ready for the next game.” DeBrincat also credited Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith as key mentors in his career, too. “Those guys, really helped me throughout the early parts of my career. Just how to act like a pro, how to treat your body like a pro.”
Considering how he treats his body, it’s no stroke of luck nor accident that Patrick Kane is the last one standing of the Chicago Blackhawks’ core players from its Stanley Cup heyday. Toews is retired in practice if not in definition, meanwhile Seabrook, Keith and Marian Hossa haven’t played in years. Kane’s care for his own body — even his risky hip surgery before joining Detroit — has equipped him to play in the NHL as a soon-to-be 36-year-old, still an impact player if not to the same degree as his former Hart-winning form.
“He’s a huge part of our team,” DeBrincat said. “He can create so much on offense and he has so much leadership. He’s been through a lot throughout his career. That leadership in the locker room, we have a lot of guys who bring that but him in general on the ice, he plays such a different way from everyone. I think it just adds another element of offense. He’s a big part of our team, so it’s great to have him back.”
