Meanwhile, in Chicago…It’s officially ‘Patrick Kane Day’

Updated at 2:47 PM: 8/8, a.k.a. August 8th, is now officially “Patrick Kane Day”:

Per WGN’s Charlie Roumeliotis:

The city of Chicago has officially declared Aug. 8 as ‘Patrick Kane Day’ in honor of the Blackhawks legend, who famously wore No. 88.

The announcement came Friday during Kane’s first annual community event, where he was presented with the official proclamation by Chicago Alderman Brian Hopkins.

“I just want to thank the Alderman, first off, for the proclamation of the day,” Kane said. “When we were thinking about doing something, it was all about me leaving Chicago so abruptly and not really being able to connect with the city so much after that, so obviously August 8, 8/8, me wearing No. 88 was pretty fitting that I was able to do something on this day and have the proclamation of today being Patrick Kane Day, so pretty exciting in my regard and fun to be back in Chicago. I’m excited for the day. It’s very special and I’m very thankful for the honor.”

Kane originally envisioned the day as a way to reconnect with the community after his sudden departure from Chicago. The city took it a step further by making it his official day, and it’s expected to be an annual event moving forward.

“It was just so quickly the way everything ended,” Kane said. “Getting traded to New York, then I had the hip surgery, then I was rehabbing in Toronto for all that season, then picking a team and going to Detroit, and then last year just getting my feet under myself after all that chaos during the offseason and then going back to Detroit, it was like, let’s find a way to do something.

“Obviously it was special coming back being able to play here as a visiting player a couple times but I think this day is so special and such a big honor for me. It really means a lot. It’s so special to have this in writing and have it be Patrick Kane Day. It’s very special.”

…

In the afternoon, he held an autograph signing at the Chicago Sports Museum before capping off the day with a Q&A alongside longtime Blackhawks TV studio host Pat Boyle to reflect on his career in Chicago and the memories he helped create.

“Just being in Chicago for so long, I really grew up in the city,” Kane said. “Being from Buffalo and coming into a big city, it was definitely overwhelming at first and I didn’t know how I was going to navigate around but I kind of figured my way out, and obviously we had some great runs with the teams and also Chicago became my home. Always fun to come back here in the summers and offseason. I have the same feeling every time I drive into the city for the first time and seeing the skyline and the water and the city, it’s just such a great feeling. Always nice to spend the offseasons here. Like I said before, we had some great runs, some great accomplishments here, and Chicago feels like home now.”

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!