On his first night in Detroit as a member of the Red Wings, Patrick Kane wound up posing for photos with Blackhawks fans. Not knowing his way around his new home, Kane was dropped off outside Little Caesars Arena before Detroit hosted Chicago last Thursday and "found myself among the fans," he said.
"Wasn't really the best game to be walking around outside with people in Chicago jerseys coming up and recognizing you," Kane said Monday with a laugh. "... You get out of the car and one person notices you, it's tough after that. You try to keep your head down and keep walking, but stopped and took a few pictures."
Kane eventually found his way into the arena and down to the Wings' locker room, which proved to be "a little trick." He expects his transition on the ice to go a little more smoothly. The nine-time All-Star, who signed with the Red Wings last week after undergoing hip surgery in the offseason, practiced with his new teammates Monday and plans to debut Thursday at home against the Sharks.
The Red Wings play the Sabres Tuesday night in Kane's hometown of Buffalo, but a Thursday debut will give him a few extra days to learn Detroit's systems and get his legs under him at practice.
"The biggest thing is just going to be getting up to game speed and NHL speed again," said Kane. "I don't expect to play (Tuesday), but we'll see what (the coaches and trainers) all think and I'm hoping Thursday. ... The exciting thing is my body feels good, so that's a big step in that direction."
Derek Lalonde confirmed the Wings are aiming for Thursday, saying Tuesday "would be a little ambitious." Kane, 35, said he's not concerned about his conditioning after a six-month layoff so much as "almost learning the game again." He underwent surgery in early June.
"Hopefully it's one of those things after you do it for one game, two games thee games, it comes back to you pretty naturally," said Kane. "I'm confident I'll get there, just gotta be patient with it."
Kane skated with his former linemate Alex DeBrincat and center Joe Veleno at Monday's practice, though the lines were jumbled with J.T. Compher getting a maintenance day. It's a good bet that Kane at least starts out with DeBrincat given the chemistry they had with the Blackhawks.
Lalonde said Kane's experience and hockey IQ should help him adjust fairly quickly to Detroit's systems: "Even walking him through structure right now, it's not foreign to him. It seems to click. And the fact that he gets to see it more and be part of our process helps out. I think it will be a pretty good transition structurally."
Aside from trying to enter LCA, Kane is settling in off the ice as well. He said his new team feels like "a close group," reminiscent of some of the teams he played on in Chicago.
"Seems to me like they have a lot of fun with each other, a lot of fun at the rink. I think that's a big sign of teams that have a lot of success. Even looking back to the teams we had success with in Chicago, our teams were so close, off the ice hung out with each other all the time, and I get that sense from this group as well," he said.
On his next game night in Detroit, Kane will likely be taking the ice. So long as he can find his way there.
