Patrick Kane considers Chicago as Detroit’s Red Wing

It’s weird for Patrick Kane, too.

This occurred to him when he first came to Chicago.

“When you come back into the city, when you come back downtown, when you see the skyline and everything like that, it hits you a little bit more,” he told reporters at the Ritz-Carlton on Sunday morning.

kane Returned to Chicago for the first time as a Detroit Red WingA series of new experiences await him: staying at a hotel in Chicago, seeing former Chicago Blackhawks teammates, entering the visitors’ locker room at the United Center.

“Someone was telling me yesterday not to keep walking towards the Blackhawks’ room,” Kane said. “At one point you have to turn right to get to the visitor room. It will be a little different. I’ve never been in that room except for one or two days in training camp when (we) had a red-white scrimmage.

“This will be a little different, but we’re trying to treat it like any other road game. I know it’s not like that, but hopefully we can get used to it quickly and play tonight.”

“When you come back into the city, when you go back downtown, when you see the skyline… it hits you a little bit more.”

—Patrick returns to Chicago for the first time as a Detroit Red Wing pic.twitter.com/krAI4yUg6L

— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) February 25, 2024

Sunday represents many milestones for Kane.

This is his first game against the Hawks, his first time stepping into the United Center as an opponent and his first meeting with heir apparent Connor Bedard.

“I don’t know if I’m nervous or not,” Kane said. “I’m looking forward to everything more, I’m kind of excited for the whole night in general.”

A contingent of 20 to 25 friends and relatives will be there, Kane said.

It’s all coming from the background Chris Chelios retiring from the jerseyThe only player hockey heads can reasonably argue makes a slightly stronger case than Kane as the greatest American hockey player in history.

He’s happy Share the spotlight with Chelios: “It’s nice to have Cheli ease the burden on me a little bit.”

“I also know Cheli, she is a big supporter of USA hockey,” said Kane. “Not only that, he was a great friend to me. Even while going through the whole process this summer, it was very helpful for me to meet with him and talk to him about some situations.

“So for me, another friend is getting a big honor tonight. If you add in how important he was to the Blackhawks and US hockey, his legendary status, and how long he played, it’s pretty neat. “It kind of goes hand in hand.”

“Later that year he said he wanted to give us a 5-to-3 score so we could get into the playoffs. … Of course my mom was furious about that and said, ‘He’s the same age as me, why bother making fun of you?’ said.”

—Patrick Kane on Chris Chelios cross-checking him in 2008 pic.twitter.com/IENeUzz20n

— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) February 25, 2024

Shortly after Kane decided to hang up his jersey for the last time, he could one day see his own No. 88 jersey ascend to the rafters.

He and the Hawks agreed last season that the franchise was over after 16 seasons and three Stanley Cups together.

He played his last home game on February 21, 2023 against the Vegas Golden Knights. In his final game as a Hawk in Dallas, he scored two goals and added an assist.

They reached a mutually beneficial decision: The Hawks traded Kane to the playoff contender New York Rangers, and as part of the package, the Hawks received a 2023 second-round draft pick to select winger Martin Misiak.

“We were playing San Jose and I was getting ready to play another game and New York managed to expedite the trade process, so I had to make a decision within 24 hours. Kane said, “No, and I decided to take on the challenge, so it all happened very quickly ” said.

“Even when I went back to Chicago after that, (Jonathan Toews) was back here and maybe someone else and I were skating and hanging out with them a little bit and we thought I’d be around for a few more days and the trade went on and it went pretty quickly, so I was pretty much up and leaving.

“Everybody has different situations, whether it’s free agency, trade, midseason, and this was something a little different, so it’ll be nice to come back and share this moment with everyone.”

Kane’s run with the Rangers ended with a first-round playoff loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Afterwards, he had to make decisions about his future.

He had hip resurfacing surgery in June.

Kane evaluated his options with various teams during his recovery and signed a one-year, $2.75 million contract with the Red Wings on November 28, reuniting him with former Hawks teammate Alex DeBrincat.

Kane relied on Chelios and others for advice.