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YEAH! Rush him in and blow up his career! Good move, 'hawks! Nobody thought this kid was NHL ready this year, but Chicago is going to force him anyway. Sadly, on this team, he may still end up being one of their best players, haha. I hope he does well, but I don't know about this decision...

I watched this kid play Juniors all year and as far as playing in the OHL hes the best player in that league.
I do think that step is a huge step to make but it wouldnt hurt to try this kid out and if he isnt producing then send him back to the OHL or down to the American league.
I think with most kids coming out of the OHL a year in the AHL would definitely help but with this kid hes that much better than anyone in that league so maybe they should give him a few games and see what he can do.
Look at Jordan Staal this year and watching both of them play Kane is twice the skater and puckhandler than Staal and look how good Staal turned out to be.
Also another example is Jason Spezza, he came into the NHL too soon and if it wasnt for the lock out year being spent with Binghamton Jason might not be the player he was this past year.
I sure hope this kid does well even though hes american lol jk.

Easy on the Kane/Staal comparisons. One major difference is size. Jordan Staal has great size and strength and can play the man's game that is the NHL. Pat Kane is about as heavy as my last girlfriend (which doesn't compliment her, poor soul) However, my point is he will have a tough time playing against men this season, not teenagers. The Hawks better not rush him or give him too much expectations. He is their future, the Hawks will again stink this year. They better hope to continue rebuilding and protect their future, not waste it to please fans eager to see Kane.

Too bad his talents will be wasted in Chicago. As long as Bill Wirts runs the show the Hawks will continue to struggle and fans will continue to stay away in droves. It was so bad toward the end of last season that they couldn't give tickets away for free. I attended several games last year and it was depressing sitting in this huge building with 10,000-11,000 in attendance.

Chicago is a great sports city but fans are tired of the Harold Ballard......I mean Bill Wirtz's act. This Neanderthal won't even allow home games to be broadcast to expose fans and potential new fans to hockey. This is totally stupid! This is an excellent hockey city but inept ownership and upper management (Pulford & Co.) turned fans off. The NHL (Bettman or whoever) need to do something about it. It looks like they turned it around in St. Louis. It'd be nice if it happen in the Windy City!

I hope I am wrong, but the Hawks seem to be leading Mr. Kane down the same road as some highly touted prospects/suspects, which is the road to ruin.

By the way, has anyone seen Everett Sanipass, Ken Yaremchuk, Jimmy Waite and Sergei Krivokrasov? Better to wait for the Wolves to open camp.

I wasnt comparing size with Staal and Kane, i was comparing talent. Size wont have a factor with this kid because I think he will adjust his game and his game isnt about size anyways its power play and five on five. Valid point though but what I mean was this kid has enough talent to be in the NHL and people didnt believe Staal would play all year. I guess we will both have to wait and see and sorry to hear your gf was that big lol.
Also I think Dale Tallon is a great hockey mind and I believe he wants to see what this kid and Toews can do this year if he infact does have Pat Kane in the home opener.
I will take the Blackhawks as a play off team this year if their big guns can stay healthy, another early prediction Toews as rookie of the year.

Sanipass still lives in New brunswisk area , he runs a summer hockey camp over there . . . . . . Kane should do fine , but's let's keep it real and not expect the Hawks to overload the youngster with an extended workload . . . .Kane's frame is smallish , so he may or may not be able to handle the rigors of the NHL , he'll run into his fair share of checkers , eager to "welcome" him into the ranks of the NHL and find out that the game is bigger , faster , and most definately hity harder than the OHL . . . I wish him luck

wow as a former Blackhawks fan I completely agree "roamer", 10 years of non-playoffs and an garbage product, expensive prices and lack of an good decision making has turned me COMPLETELY off to hockey, sad considering I played for about 15 years of my life. I'll come back when the old man is gone in the meantime this garbage organization isn't getting a dollar or mine. Things are so bad they had a hard time getting a TV and radio contract; what a joke, hockey's dead in Chicago

These guys must be deperate to play him so early.Everybody knows he needs at least 1 more year of seasoning.Hopefully he doesnt get concussed in his first game.

Unless they've seen him " step up " in the rookies camp . . . . . he must have showed something for the "brass " t think they could insert Mr.Kane into a line-up . . . . . . or it could be a short couple of games and off to London or the AHL . . . . . Y'all should'nt cut him down so quickly . . . . .

Er wasn't Stan Mikita's frame smallish too? Or Denis Savard's?

All they are doing is giving this kid the cursory 7 or 8 game look before sending the kid back to Juniors -since they can't send him to the AHL this year... big deal.

I don't entirely agree with Roamer about the TV thing -I doubt having home games on TV at this point in the Hawks' relative "competitiveness" would be completely meaningless ... more people would probably be watching Mexican soap operas -so why bother with it. It might have made a little more difference when the team was better.

kane will be fine just look at gianta for the devils everyone thought he was too small for the league as well and he is proven to be one of the most realiable guyd for the devils. He plays bigger than guys twice his size so whose to say Kane won't do the same

whose to say Kane isnt ready... just because he is small, think of Brian Gionta for the devils everyone thought he would never make it in the NHL and was too small and now he is one of the devils most reliable players and also plays bigger than most people twice his size so what makes you think that Kane won't do the same

hehe . . . . . is it too late or early to say. . . .. . . . . . Calder Trophy winner ?

Great.

Let Tonto play. Let's screw up another young kid by throwing him in the NHL too fast and too soon!!

If he wins the calder I will bite my tongue!!!!! If he doesn't oh well!!!!

Plus, Chicago sucks!!!! THey could use anything right now!

Chicago Blackhawks Hockey is a joke

The OHL is like shinny hockey/stick & puck. Its not anywhere near close to the NHL. Kane is more of a playmaker not of the caliber of Crosby. This is a classic case of a STRUGGLING franchise trying to sell tickets. He is a LITTLE BOY who is not ready for the NHL. He needs time to develop his play in the AHL and grow into a professionals body. GROUNDPOUNDER...he will NOT win the Calder. IMICIRISH...Gionta was a 22 year old with about another inche and 15-20lbs than Kane. He also played 4 years of college hockey so he was more of a "man" making the tradition. Gionta played 1/2 year in the AHL and then was surrounded with talents & vets like Elias, Holik, Sykora, Gomez, Rafalski, Stevens, Pandolfo, Langenbrunner, Nieuwendyk, Madden, and Daneyko. Kane does NOT have anything close to that support. Hockey has NOTHING to do with size. You can either play or you can't. But there is a HUGE difference in being tops in Major Juniors and playing in the NHL on a struggling team.

Oh , no doubt in my mind that there is a considerable difference in the play of the OhL and the NHL , without a shadow of a doubt . . . . . . . Does anybody know of other rookie player that they think will crack the roster of te other teams? Are those players as explosive as Kane ? Sam Gagner perhaps w/ Oilers . . . . . . Cherapanov w/ the Rangers ? you see . . . .we just don't know until the final roster is made at the start of the season to see which rookies will play . . . . .look at the broader picture

leafsfan - you're calling the Hawks to make the playoffs?!? No wonder everyone thinks toronto fans know nothing about hockey! Ridiculous. I can only hope you were joking.
Calling the OHL shinny is a bit disrespectful to a great league as well, BauerStar, it takes alot of hard work to get to that level, and the CHL is the best harvester of talent the NHL has. It isn't the NHL level, but degrading it by calling it shinny sends the wrong message to some of these people who may have never had the chance to go to an OHL game.

Kane was great in the "O", and his coach, dale hunter, was in the show forever, which means he likely acted as a tutor for the years Pat played there - look at how well corey perry has worked out. But to expect too much out of this kid is going to bury him. Take your time, Chicago, let him develop - a year or 2 of patience now can save having to replace him later...