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"It's a huge honor," he said. "You're representing the United States of America, the greatest country in the world. I haven't worn a 'C' on my jersey since I might have been 12 or 13 years old. It's a pretty fun opportunity. When I told [USA Hockey] I was going to come and play, they said, 'That's great,' and they were going to name me captain right away.
"It was pretty exciting."
Kane, 29, has helped the U.S. to a second-place finish in Group B in Herning, and into the quarterfinals against the Czech Republic on Thursday, although the U.S. finished the preliminary round Tuesday by losing 6-2 to Finland. He scored a goal and had an assist against Finland, and his 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in seven games are tied with forward Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes) of Finland for the tournament scoring lead.
"He's done a great job with our team, bringing us together," Calgary Flames forward and U.S. teammate Johnny Gaudreau said. "I follow him in the locker room and follow him on the ice. He leads by example. He's probably still on the ice shooting pucks. He's a player that throughout my whole career I've looked up to, and getting a chance to play alongside him for Team USA is a pretty cool honor and privilege.
"This is really exciting for me. I grew up watching him. He was one of my favorite players. And he's a great captain. He's done a great job with the team."
It has been a bit of an evolution for Kane since the last time he represented the U.S. in the World Championship in 2008, when he was a 19-year-old following his first season in the NHL.
"What was that? Ten years ago?" said Kane, who had 76 points (27 goals, 49 assists) in 82 games for the Blackhawks this season. "I still enjoy playing hockey, love playing hockey, but 10 years go by and you're going to change certain things about yourself and mature a little bit.
"But I'm still having fun playing the game."
He's having fun in his leadership role, too, though his style is a bit different than center Jonathan Toews, Chicago's captain.
"I think Toews is pretty serious," said forward Alex DeBrincat, a teammate of Kane's with the Blackhawks and the U.S. "Toews probably says a little bit more in the locker room, and [Kane], he just leads by example. You see him on the ice and he's always the best guy on the ice. He's always backchecking, doing the little things. He wants to be the best player out there. I mean, in a sense they're pretty close to being the same. Both work really hard, but I think [Toews] will say more in the locker room than [Kane] does."
Kane's play has done most of the talking here; he has set U.S. records for points and assists in a single World Championship; Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson, is second on the U.S. in scoring with 10 points (six goals, four assists).
Kane became an option to lead the U.S. after the Blackhawks failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons. During the nine-year run, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup three times (2010, 2013, 2015).
Kane scored the Cup-clinching goal in 2010 and won the Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the most valuable player for his team in the playoffs, in 2013.
"It's a long summer when you don't make playoffs," DeBrincat said. "You always want to keep playing. … [Kane] just loves the game, and I think anytime he can come and compete at a high level, I think he wants to. I think he's always trying to get better."
Kane said his World Championship experience has made him reassess previous decisions not to participate in the tournament.
"I feel like I should have come in years past," he said. "I think it's one of those things where from here on out for me, is if you're healthy and you're not in [the] playoffs, whether you get eliminated in the first or second round and get invited, you have to take the opportunity to come here and represent your country, and start getting some of these American players treating it like some of the Europeans, who get asked and come over right away."
