Well, there have been plenty of sad days in Chicago sports. Yes, there are the tough seasons, where things never really get off the ground, where we come up way short of expectations, and where we know we’re going to suck. There are those tough losses, whether it’s a loss to our rival, a late season heartbreaker, or even worse yet, a postseason loss. Then there are the exits from Chicago of our favorite players; we have had our share of these too, especially lately. Tuesday brought the exit of one of the greatest Chicago Blackhawks, if not THE greatest. With all these dominoes falling around us, Patrick Kane was THE Domino.
How, why? The Hawks rebuild. Kane wanting another chance at a Cup as his career winds down. The Blackhawks failing to do a good job of keeping the team in contention the past 5+ years. Maybe some of us WANTED Kane to get another shot at a Cup, even if it wasn’t in a Blackhawks sweater; we certainly had wished it would have been here. The memories… I’ve seen so many great things on Twitter about Kane’s career in Chicago; 3 Cups man… The game winning shot to get the 1st one, the hat trick against the Canucks the year prior, the game winner against the Kings in one of those other Cup runs. When he got drafted, his first goal, the spin-o-ramas, his last goal (that didn’t count, but should have)… this is only the tip of the iceberg. Kane was at the heart of the dynasty that was, the one that brought many of us the first Stanley Cup in our lifetimes, and then yeah, 2 more on top of that. What more can I say that hasn’t been said already about what Patrick Kane meant to the Blackhawks & the city of Chicago? This hurts.
How many Chicago guys can we put on this list? This list of great players that once donned a Chicago uniform, and now are doing their thing elsewhere… there are way too many of those. Why can’t we keep our great players? Why do the folks running our teams think they’re smarter than everybody else, but in actuality, haven’t won shit since all of these guys left. I’m not even going to name them all, but it’s each and every team; 88 is the biggest of them all though. Not since Jordan put on that Wizards uniform, have we felt the way we are going to feel when we see Kane skating around with that Rangers sweater on. I guess after a while, you just get immune to it all; you realize that this is a business. That immunity will get put to the test in a big way come his first game with New York.
I’m not angry; mostly I’m sad. I’m going to root for the Rangers to win the Stanley Cup. Don’t really have another horse in the race with the Blackhawks being on the other end of the spectrum. I would love to see Kane raise another Cup; selfishly, I wanted one more deep run by the Hawks lead by 88 and 19. Unselfishly, I’ll be happy to see them win it again elsewhere; they’ve brought us enough happiness, no? Unlike a lot of the guys that have been leaving, Kane is a multi-year champ. Not like Butler with zero rings or Roquan just getting started. Not like Abreu who was never able to help bring a title to the South Side; more so like all the Cubs who were a part of that 2016 team, but more… 3x more. Patrick Kane is a legend.
Life goes on… the Blackhawks have already taken the ice; the next chapter has already started. It’s hard to imagine this next chapter of Blackhawks hockey, without 88, will be greater than the book he helped write; here’s hoping. Lucky for me, I’ll be able to witness this new chapter on the ice at the UC in person on Thursday. That’ll be weird… that’s hockey baby. Thanks for everything Patrick.
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