Inside The Cage: Kane's Quest for the Playoffs

Evander Kane joked he hopes to be the next Ron Hainsey.
If the finish of Kane's season mirrors that of the veteran defenseman Hainsey's campaign last year, it certainly will be no joke. After having played 907 regular-season games, Hainsey finally reached the postseason for the first time but only after getting dealt from down-and-out Carolina to contending Pittsburgh at the trade deadline.
And, to top it off, Hainsey hit the jackpot in his playoff debut by lifting Lord Stanley's silver chalice when the Penguins won their second straight Stanley Cup.
Kane played 557 games with Atlanta, Winnipeg, and Buffalo before coming to San Jose on Feb. 26, and it appears now he doesn't have much longer to wait to break his personal non-playoff drought.

"Things are looking good, but we have to keep our foot on the gas right now," Kane said. "We have to continue to separate ourselves from the other teams. We have 10 games remaining, and they're a big 10 games, especially the next five."
The Sharks return after sweeping a three-game swing through western Canada to host New Jersey on Tuesday in the first of three straight at home. A showdown against Pacific Division-leading Vegas follows on Thursday before Saturday's finale against desperate Calgary.
The homestand combined with a quick trek to Chicago and St. Louis on back-to-back nights at the outset of next week represent half of what's left on the regular-season schedule, and provides an excellent opportunity to all but cement the team's 13th trip the Stanley Cup playoffs in 14 seasons.
"We have to continue to win because, as Pete said the other night, we're winning but we're not going anywhere," Kane said of DeBoer's observation. "Staying where we are will be good, and once we get into the playoffs I'm going to be excited. It's something I've always wanted to do."

The inspired Kane is certainly doing his part. Since arriving from Buffalo, he has scored five goals and 10 points in nine games. The Sharks have won seven times in that span, including each of the last four. Kane enjoyed a career night at Calgary on Friday when he not only collected the first hat trick of his career, but went one better with a fourth goal to join Owen Nolan, Patrick Marleau, and Tomas Hertl as the only San Jose skaters to score as many as four in one game.
"It's nice to get that monkey off my back," said Kane, whose 27 two-goal games were most among active NHL players who had yet to notch a hat trick. "It made it even better, obviously, in a big game, an important game."
Of more obscure note, Kane did something no Vancouver-born skater had done in nearly 30 years. He was the first to score four goals in an NHL game since Hockey Hall of Famer and fellow Vancouver native Glenn Anderson scored four times against Toronto with Edmonton on Nov. 19, 1988.
"It's always a special night when someone can score three, and for him to get that fourth is pretty cool to see," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. "He's definitely made a huge impact on us as a team and on his teammates. He's been one of the guys driving the bus here for the last week or two."
Off the ice, Kane feels settled. He has his car, and place to stay and he's getting familiar with the city. He says getting traded for the first time in-season has gone well. And when it's time to report to work?
"Coming to the rink now is fun," Kane said while displaying a broad smile. "When you're losing and you're out of the playoffs in November, you can kind of start to dread it a little bit. And it's tough to stay mentally fresh.
"But here it's always upbeat, it's always relaxed and it's always fun. And when the games get going? We work. And I love that. We battle, and it's top to bottom."

Everything about Kane's game has been a good fit. He's big, fast, skilled and someone who can play all situations. The 26-year-old pending unrestricted free agent provided a necessary boost for a team that - while deep in balanced scoring - was starting to feel the effects of missing superstar center Joe Thornton and his offensive prowess on one of San Jose's top scoring lines.
"We've done it by committee all year," DeBoer said. "We got to the point where (Sharks GM) Doug (Wilson) felt he could go get Kane and give us a chance because of that scoring by committee, and because we've gotten contributions from everyone in the lineup."
Wilson also tapped into his veteran leadership for how they felt. And he heard a ringing endorsement for his plans to acquire Kane.
"For guys like Burnzie, Pavs, and Jumbo to tell Doug to go out and get me that means a lot," Kane said before adding, "that says a lot and I just wanted to come in here and prove them right."
Kane and Co. know the work is not done, and a final push of strong play is needed before the team can look forward to hockey beyond the first week of next month. And if that comes to fruition, Kane has more plans, too.
"I'm not going to be satisfied just making the playoffs, I want to win in the playoffs," he said. "I'm not the guy who is just happy to be a part of it. I want to win, I want to dominate and I want to go deep, and I think we have the group in here to do that.
"I know they did that a couple of years ago, and I think the hunger is there. And that's what I'm excited about."