NHL 10: Talking Goals with Patrick Kane

GS: Let me ask you about your gaming habits in particular. It sounds like you're a big hockey guy. Tell me about what you like to play, hockey or otherwise.

PK: Yeah, throughout my whole life I've probably been playing video games since nine or ten years old, and I've always got the EA Sports franchise hockey game. I seem to always get NBA Live and Madden as well. Tiger Woods sometimes. But as far as the other games, you know, I like to play the SOCOM game on the PSP, FIFA on the PSP--that's pretty cool on the plane. We get to PSP together and [my teammates] kind of connect up, and they're playing SOCOM trying to kill everyone. That's a fun game with the team. Throughout the playoffs we played Mario Kart on the Wii... That was fun and, well, I've pretty much been a sports franchise guy with EA Sports throughout my whole life. So, I think that makes it even more special that I'm on the cover this year.

GS: Do you have an earliest gaming memory, maybe the first game you ever played?

PK: I think now that you mention that, it was probably [either] NHL 97 or NHL 98, and I was a big Joe Sakic fan back then. So, I pretty much got him the puck every time I'd try to [score with him]. It took me a couple of games to score my first goal when I first started playing, but the first goal I ever scored I was shooting with Sakic pretty much every time and I remember I think he was playing with Claude Lemieux and the shot I took—Sakic shot it, it went off Lemieux's pant leg and dribbled in, and that's the first goal I ever scored in my career.

GS: That's awesome.

PK: That's pretty funny. The guy I wanted to score it didn't score, but that's the way I scored the goal.

GS: I don't know if you remember those old NHL games, but they were so fast compared to today's game.

PK: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, very fast with the speed burst… The way you could kind of move around the goalie with just kind of skating by him real quick. But yeah, at my house in Chicago I have the PS3, and that's what I'm used to playing. So, when I come home I have the PS2 because I don't really live here too much, but sometimes you go back and play those games. I mean, their speed bursts are so fast it's ridiculous. So, it's not as realistic as the new ones, but I like the realistic ones better.

GS: Yeah, it's interesting that the kids playing games today are probably getting a more realistic brand of hockey, even though hockey video games have been around forever.

PK: Oh yeah, I remember back, my first game I think was, like I said, NHL 97 with [former NHL goalie John Vanbiesbrouck] was on the cover, so. And back then I remember being a little kid, I was saying, "Hey, I want the game with Forsberg on the cover. I want the game with Lindros on the cover. I want the game with Pronger on the cover." I mean, that's the way I was. I wanted the game with the best player on the cover and now, hopefully, kids are saying, you know, "I want the game with Pat Kane on the cover."

GS: That's not too bad! Let me ask you a bit about your career in general. I read that your first NHL goal was against [former Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings goalie] Dominik Hasek. What was it like scoring your first NHL goal and against a legend like the Dominator?

PK: Well, the funny thing about it is it was a shootout, so it actually didn't count as my first NHL goal.

GS: Oh, really?

PK: It was the first puck I put in the net in the NHL. [The goal] actually came down on the shootout. You know, the good story about this is: Hasek was kind of a boyhood hero growing up playing in Buffalo. That's where I was from. The team didn't have too many offensive superstars, so I pretty much watched the game to watch Dominik Hasek make amazing save after amazing save.

So, here I am in the second game of my NHL career at home against the Red Wings, kind of a rivalry team. We came back, we tied the game up 3-3, and we're going into a shootout now. So, who's the first guy they put out for the shootout? Myself. I'm going down against Dominik Hasek, made a move on it, beat to the back end, kind of lifted it up over his pad, and I was pretty pumped, had a couple of celebrations down the ice. That was a great feeling to put it in on a guy like that.

After the game, my dad was like, "Hey, you should get a picture with Dominik." So, after he was walking out, I said, "Hey, hey, Dom, can I get a picture with you?" You know at this time I'm 18 years old. I'm still a fan of Dominik Hasek. It's my second game in the NHL. I've only been in the NHL for two games. He's like, "Hey, are you that kid that just scored on me?" I said, "Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." So, it ended up being the game-winning shootout goal. I got the picture with him. He's actually got a big smile on in the picture. It's pretty cool to see. And… my dad actually sold him a car. When he played in Buffalo, my dad owned a Jeep dealership, so they talked for a little bit, and it was just a great, great moment overall, things you never think would happen that do, you know.

GS: Was that your first big "I'm in the NHL" moment?

PK: Yeah, that was probably it [as well as] the first NHL game. So our first regular season game, that was pretty cool. I remember I was so amped on my shift I was kind of running around everywhere, and if I probably just played the regular way I should have played I would have had a goal. I remember I was skating so hard to the net that the puck kind of went by to where I was before, and if I was just kind of, skating at a regular pace like I normally would, I would have had a tap in on the empty net. So, you look back on moments like that and kind of wish you did things differently, but that was definitely a moment where it's like, "Hey, you know, I think this is going to work out pretty good for me."

GS: I know in your younger career you spent some time with [former NHL right wing] Pat Verbeek. What did you learn from him and how did he influence your game?

PK: The thing about Pat, he was a kind of smaller guy like myself. He played a little bit of the grittier game. But one of the things he really wanted to work on when I came to him was to work hard every shift. I mean, sometimes I would kind of save myself for shifts where I really wanted to score, [and] he said, "Hey, you got to work hard every shift and try to score every shift." And that's what I've really taken into my game, and I think it's helped me out.

GS: What's the biggest difference between the juniors and the NHL?

PK: The speed for sure. That's one thing. You know, you're playing against men now. And juniors, I was 18 years old, playing against 20-year-olds. But [in the NHL you have guys who] are 18, 19, 20 years old playing against guys that are up to Chelios, who is 47 years old. So, you're playing against men now, so it's a little bit tougher. It's a little bit more fatiguing, and you know the chances aren't there as much as it is in junior.

GS: Early in the 2008/09 NHL season the Blackhaws changed coaches [Chicago fired Denis Savard four games into the season and replaced him with Joel Quenneville]. Was that a shake-up for you guys, and how did it change the atmosphere of the locker room?

PK: Oh yeah, I think one of the things about it, it was four games into the season, so it's pretty unexpected. You know, there's a lot of hype coming in the season that we were going to be a better. We lost our first two games, I think. Maybe we won on the shootout the next one, and then we won our next game. But he actually got fired after a win. So, it did shake things up a bit, and it was tough for me. I mean, [Savard] was pretty close to me in my first year. He was more like a friend than a coach. But [it all] seemed to work out. I think Quenneville has done a great job here in Chicago, and he's really taken the team and city by storm and people enjoy him. I mean, he's a great coach. He got the job done this year.

GS: Quenneville is a different kind of coach, a different kind of personality, right?

PK: Oh, absolutely. Savard was more in the locker room, kind of more of a friend, like I said. Quenneville stays away from the locker room, kind of lets the boys be boys, and when he's in the locker room, it's all business.

GS: What are you looking to work on next year? What do you hope to improve about your game ?

PK: Yeah, throughout the summer I think you want to get stronger obviously, work on a lot of different things, whether it's skating or getting faster. That's another thing I want to do. Last summer I wanted to work on my shot. I want to work on my shot again and get a little more accurate so I can pick the corners a little bit better. It's a lot tougher in the NHL with big goalies, and big defensemen standing in your way. But just have a good summer overall, work hard, take care of my body, and come ready to play next year.

GS: Okay, final questions, I know that you played Tavares in NHL 10 just before this interview. Who won the game?

PK: It was kind of unfair, actually. He was up 2-1 with about 10 minutes left in the second period. I actually scored a goal with myself in the game, and I had a 5 on 3 power play, and they pulled me away for pictures, and we never really finished the game. But hopefully we can finish it when we go back.

GS: And it's always nice to score as yourself.

PK: Oh yeah, it was a great feeling.

GS: Thanks for your time.