25 IN 25: 1Kane

When Patrick Kane arrived in Chicago, the Blackhawks lacked an identity. For games at the United Center, good sections were available.

But everything has changed, as the evening of Jan. 21, 2020, confirmed. The sold-out building rocked when Kane was honored for his 1,000th career point, which he registered a couple nights earlier with an assist against Winnipeg. At age 31, Kane became the 90th player in National Hockey League history to reach that landmark, and only the fourth in franchise annals behind Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull and Denis Savard.
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Fittingly, besides a video tribute to some of Kane's magic moments, he was presented a silver puck by his first coach, Savard, and an engraved glass plaque by Jill, wife of the late Mikita. Since Kane showed up as a No. 1 overall draft choice in 2007, he has been a charismatic and productive force. He won the Calder Trophy, the Hart Memorial Trophy and Art Ross Trophy in 2016, the same year he was voted among the best 100 NHL players ever.
"So many great things have happened to me," said Kane. "I've been fortunate to play with a first-class organization in an unbelievable city in front of amazing fans."

Besides Kane's dazzling regular season numbers, he contributed to three Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013, and 2015 with 50 goals and 73 assists in 127 playoff games. By age 27, Kane had more game-winning playoff goals, 11, than any player in Blackhawk history.
Already, Kane belongs in the pantheon of superstar athletes in Chicago sports, any team, any era. He is must-see, with or without the puck, able to find lanes only he can detect and score from seemingly impossible situations.
"He's always found a way," remarked father Pat. "As a kid playing basketball, there was a game where he was inbounding the ball. The guy he was supposed to throw it to had his back turned. So Patrick tossed the ball off the guy anyway, took it and shot it in the basket. Basically passed to himself."
Kane shared this night with his second coach, Joel Quenneville, in town with the Florida Panthers. Coach Q won three Cups with the Blackhawks and will join Kane in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
"I was the right guy at the right time," said Quenneville, who was accorded a rousing welcome. "I inherited lots of talented players. Like No. 88."