2013 Blackhawks Report Cards: Patrick Kane

Standard Regular Season Stats

Advanced Regular Season Stats (5 on 5)

Standard Playoff Stats

Advanced Playoff Stats (5 on 5)

After the Blackhawks‘ second consecutive first-round exit in the playoffs, fans were looking for someone or something to blame. Many fans turned on Corey Crawford, who gave up soft goals in consecutive overtime games hosting Phoenix and overall had a disastrous year. Others blamed sub-par special teams play, which plagued them throughout the season. Those who didn’t fall under either or any other category pointed to Patrick Kane.

2011-2012 was his worst offensive year of his career. After putting up 161 points in 155 games over the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons, everybody expected Kane was finally going to take the next step and break the 90 point barrier, maybe even push 100. He fell well short of that in his 2011-2012 season, posting only 66 points in a full 82 game season. He failed to dent the net in the 6 games against Phoenix and managed only 4 helpers. This was hardly the production expected from a player of his caliber. Fans were outraged with him. Their outrage only worsened when Deadspin broke the story of Kane partying at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he wore his infamous “Cinco Por Dos es Igual A Diez” shirt for the Cinco de Mayo festivities. “TRADE KANE FOR RYAN MILLER,” yelled the meatballs. “HE’S A BUM! HIS OFF-ICE ISSUES AREN’T WORTH IT,” they howled.

Fast-forward a couple of months into the dark days of the lockout. Patrick Kane was playing overseas with another young stud forward, Tyler Seguin. The masses waited for the incriminating Deadspin story to drop. What would it be this time? Another cabbie? A drunken romp around Europe with his buddy Seguin? They waited and waited and waited. After a few months, they finally got their Patrick Kane Deadspin story. Well, sort of. Donna Kane, his mom, came to live with him and keep him in check while playing in Switzerland. Not exactly what they expected to hear.

The lockout ended, Mrs. Kane went back home to Buffalo and Kane and Seguin returned to their respective teams. It was to be a make-or-break year for both Kane and Seguin. One of these two forwards was vilified by the city they played for and was subsequently traded after a poor season. The other was Conn Smythe winner Patrick Kane.

Patrick Kane brought home some big-time hardware after an outstanding 2013 campaign. He won the Conn Smythe award as the playoff MVP as well as the Stanley Cup. He led the Blackhawks in playoffs points with 19 in 23 games, second overall to David Krejci. Following game 6 against Boston and at the parade, Kane ensured the fans knew he thought Crawford should have won the Conn Smythe instead; a very mature gesture for a man whose reputation for immaturity often precedes him.

He played decently throughout the Minnesota series, racking up 5 helpers in that 5 game series. Only 4 points in the 7 game series against Detroit again led to some criticism of his play. This continued to simmer over the first few games of the Los Angeles series until it boiled over following a complete fan/media overreaction to a game 3 loss. Kane responded to the idiocy by posting 4 points in the next two games, including his glorious hat trick in game 5. Another 5 points in the Stanley Cup Final (paired with a poor game 4 performance by Corey Crawford) pretty much sealed his nomination as Conn Smythe winner.

This all followed what could only be described as a marvelous regular season for the 24-year-old winger. He racked up 55 points in 47 games – good for 5th in the league – which is impressive enough on its own. Now add in the fact he dragged a struggling/miscast Dave Bolland and an injured Patrick Sharp around while playing against some of the opponent’s top competition. It’s crazy to imagine what Kane would’ve done with a healthy Sharp, not to mention a more offensively-minded center.

Although he did benefit from a high shooting percentage – 16.7 – and that should come down a tick next season, Kane equaled his goal total from last year – 23 – in roughly half the number of games. It’s safe to say he still would’ve easily eclipsed that with a regressed shooting percentage over a full season. He was on pace for 95 points in a full 82 game season, which would’ve surpassed his career high of 88 by 7.

It seemed like every time he had the puck he would make something happen. Whether it was leading the rush along the right wing boards and waiting to dish to the trailer, or undressing defenders with a ridiculous deke, Kane demonstrated the offensive abilities fans had grown accustomed to. It’s not like he never showed his abilities during the 2011-2012 season – I mean, you still don’t put up 66 points for nothing – but inconsistency was the name of the game for him all throughout last year. Conversely, he seemed to put on a show every single time he was on the ice this year. The previous year, there were 4 times where he went 3 consecutive games without registering a point, 5 including the playoffs, in a total of 88 games. This year, he went 3 consecutive games without registering a point once during the regular season, twice including the playoffs, for a total of 71 games.

It’s hard to believe that as recently as December, Patrick Kane was the lightning rod for criticism due to his off-ice issues paired with on-ice performance and not Tyler Seguin. As ridiculous as the Kane for Miller rumors were at the time, imagine how you’d feel making that swap now. In the span of about six months, Kane has gone from “good-for-nothing, immature, slacker bum” to a maturing, growing, superstar who still has plenty of potential to reach (wow is that terrifying to everybody else in #conferenceIII.)

Off-ice issues are way too overblown a lot of the time, but there still seemed to be a noticeable change for Patrick Kane this year. Maybe the time with his mother overseas reigned him in a little bit or maybe something just clicked within him. Whatever it was, Kane seems to be maturing right in front of us. You can just tell by his demeanor and the way he carried himself this year that he’s finally “growing-up” per se. He’s even said that about himself, that he’s a more mature and focused individual than he once was. And at the very least, he hasn’t found his name on Deadspin in a while, which is all we can ask for.

Next year will be a big one for him as well, but in a different sense. Kane no longer has to prove his ability and his work ethic. He’s already taken that next step to become the superstar he is. But there’s no way he’s not done growing. Remember; after 2 Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe, 3 All-Star selections and some MVP votes (and a Selke vote lol), this superstar’s only 24 years old.

Final Grade; A+