The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed an early-evening notebook which discusses Patrick Kane’s decision to re-sign with the Red Wings, his first full summer’s worth of training since his hip resurfacing surgery, and more:
“How close we were last year, and just looking back on the season,” Kane said, “there’s things you think about when you’re potentially signing a new contract, there were some great moments for me personally and for the team and the excitement around the team.”
Not having trained as thoroughly as he would have preferred the two previous summers because of pain in the hip, Kane was thrilled to resume regular hockey offseason training this summer. Kane is optimistic the summer of vigorous training will help him further on the ice.
“It was nice,” Kane said. “A few summers ago, you were doing a lot of rehab and trying to look for any kind of relief. This year was more about, more resistance (training), more weight behind the exercises, more whole body and not just focused on the hip. It was nice to go to the gym and feeling good and getting ready to work and train as hard as you can, as an athlete.”
Kane’s patience and ability to slow down the game, [teammate Alex] DeBrincat said, are things Wings players can absorb. Kane’s chemistry with DeBrincat picked up where they left off in Chicago, providing the Wings with a needed offensive threat.
“The way (Kane) plays, you try to look at how he plays,” DeBrincat said. “He creates so much, so you try to take some of that same stuff and put it in your own game. But he’s pretty special, so you can’t take too much. You take what you can and let him do the rest.”
Continued (paywall), with discussion about the Four Nations Cup:
“It’s kind of in the back of your mind a little bit, but I don’t think it’s anything you’re really thinking about right now,” Kane said. “You think about getting ready for the season and having a good camp and being ready as possible for the start of the season. There’s a lot of good players, a lot of good forwards, Larkin and DeBrincat included. We’ll see what happens. It’s a privilege and honor to play for Team USA. You want to be on those (national) teams, but I guess we’ll see how it all shakes out. It would be an honor to represent my country, especially in those big tournaments like the Four Nations and the Olympics.”
