The London Knights spent Friday night celebrating Blackhawks star Patrick Kane.
London of the Ontario Hockey League celebrated Kane unveiling a banner with his name, face, No. 88 and the 2006-07 season he played for the Knights during a ceremony before their game against the Sudbury Wolves.
A Knight to remember 💚
He scored 145 points & was named #OHL Rookie of the Year during his single season with the @GoLondonKnights in 2006-07 before a decorated @NHL career with @NHLBlackhawks.
Tonight, 8️⃣8️⃣ was officially lifted to the rafters in London. Congrats, @88PKane 👏 pic.twitter.com/vm7iONSGHI
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) January 18, 2020
Thank you @GoLondonKnights for a night my family and I will never forget pic.twitter.com/ISWkFZ2USE
— Patrick Kane (@88PKane) January 18, 2020
Kane scored 62 goals and 145 points in 58 regular-season games then added 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 16 playoff games during the 2006-07 season for London. For his efforts, he won the Emms Family Award as OHL rookie of the year and was runner-up to John Tavares for the Red Tilson Trophy as league MVP.
London selected Kane with the 88th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2004 OHL Midget Draft, but he elected to play for the United States National Team Development Program for two seasons prior to joining the Knights. He has said his birth year, 1988, is the reason he wears No. 88 to this day.
Kane is the second Blackhawks player to have his number retired by London, joining Dave Bolland whose No. 91 hangs in the Budweiser Gardens rafters. The duo were teammates in Chicago from 2007-13 and won two championships together. Kane and Bolland scored the Cup-clinching goal in 2010 and 2013, respectively.
Patrick Kane was asked where he wanted his banner to hang — beside Corey Perry or David Bolland. He joked, “I told (Dave) it was going to go right up and cover Bolland’s.”
— Ryan Pyette (@RyanatLFPress) January 18, 2020
Blackhawks defenseman Adam Boqvist, who played for the Knights last season, was impressed by the ceremony.
@GoLondonKnights wow😍 pic.twitter.com/ErSSPniGVy
— Adam Boqvist (@BoqvistAdam) January 18, 2020