TORONTO – Patrick Kane and his USA teammates will be wrapping up their portion of the World Cup of Hockey with tonight’s game against the Czech Republic. When Kane heads to Blackhawks training camp, however, remains uncertain.
“Yeah I’m not really sure what the plan is yet,” said Kane on Thursday morning. “A lot of guys, at least the American guys, anyway, have talked about taking a few days off and then joining their team. I’ll go back to Chicago, talk to Stan [Bowman] and Joel [Quenneville] and get a feel of what they want me to do and what’s best for me.”
[SHOP: Gear up, Blackhawks fans!]
Kane said Team USA needed to, “just win a game” on its final day in Toronto. While USA hockey is reeling from another disappointing international showing, the future should bode well. Watching some of the Americans on Team North America shows that.
“I think USA Hockey has a bright future ahead of it, not only USA Hockey but hockey in general,” Kane said. “You look at some of those younger guys, I know a few of them are American but there are some very good Canadian players as well. But yeah, you could argue that some of those guys on that team would have made our team, been in consideration for making the American team. USA Hockey’s in a good place, the future’s bright. Once we get by this, there’ll be a lot of excitement and expectations to do better in the Olympics.”
Kane was very emotional on Tuesday night, when Team Canada eliminated Team USA from the tournament. Jonathan Toews, speaking after Team Canada’s 4-1 victory over Team Europe on Thursday, said he hasn’t talked to Kane yet about Team USA’s disappointing ending.
“There’s no doubt when we get back to Chicago, no matter what happens the rest of the tournament, we’ll talk about it. But previous experience is not something you rub in anyone’s face,” Toews said. “Everyone wants to win and anything can happen. I think there’s a lot of talk about the US team falling short of their expectations but at the same time, we said the same thing. I guess we’re putting along the way we expected to, but anyone can win this tournament. We’re seeing that across the board, especially in the other pool. North America’s surprising teams. It’s not easy.”