Jeff Blashill Has High Praise For Patrick Kane After Blackhawks Win Over Jets

In Thursday night’s win over the Winnipeg Jets, Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane reached another remarkable milestone in his NHL career. With his assist on Connor Bedard’s opening goal, Kane earned his 895th career assist. 

This surpassed Phil Housley's record for an American-born player. Kane is already the all-time leading scorer among Americans in the NHL, and now he stands alone in terms of assists. 

Kane currently sits 4th in goals with 509. He trails Mike Modano (561), Keith Tkachuk (538), and Jeremy Roenick (513). He will jump into third by passing Roenick this season, and it will be interesting to see how far he can climb. 

Brett Hull is Canadian-born but represented Team USA nationally, so that adds confusion to the record book. He had 741 goals, which is out of reach for Kane at this point. The league recognized Kane as the all-time leading scorer when he passed Modano in points, not Hull, so you’d think they'd do the same if he passed Modano in goals.  

After the game was over, head coach Jeff Blashill was asked about this milestone for Kane. He answered in a way that may be unexpected: he sounded like a fan more than a coach. 

"I’m a huge Patrick Kane fan for what he’s done for the sport and the US - how much it’s meant to so many Americans,” Blashill said. “He’s been a special, special player in this sport and deserves every accolade he gets because of what he’s done, but also who he is."

Both on and off the ice, Kane has impressed his new head coach in a short amount of time. It’s not hard for Kane, who is one of the best players of his generation. Blashill also has ties to USA Hockey, just like Kane. 

Later in the game, Kane added career assist 896 with a helper on Artyom Levshunov’s game-winning goal in overtime. Combine that with his 509 goals for 1405 points. The numbers almost don’t feel real, but he has been so great for so long. When you select a player first overall, you think they should become a franchise player, but Kane was so much more than that. 

Kane received some high praise from his head coach, who went out of his way to compliment him outside of coach speak. That doesn’t happen often, but the 37-year-old certainly deserves it. 

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