Chicago Blackhawks: Patrick Kane to receive jersey retirement
Patrick Kane is one of the best players in Chicago Blackhawks history and his mark on junior hockey is also very impressive.
The Chicago Blackhawks know exactly what they have in Patrick Kane. He has been everything they asked and more when they selected him with the number one overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft. They won the lottery and they hit the jackpot because Kane has been one of the best players in the NHL since then.
His junior team is the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. He was the 88th overall pick in the 2004 OHL draft. They announced that they are going to retire his famous number 88 on January 17th against the Sudbury Wolves. He dominated from the time he stepped on OHL ice and made his mark in a short time.
Kane opted not to play for the London Knights until the 2006-07 season in favor of playing for the United States National Development program. He only played the one season with London, so getting his jersey retired says a lot about the impact that he had. He will be the ninth player in team history to receive that honor.
In 58 games, he had 62 goals and 83 assists for 145 points. Those video game-like numbers earned him the OHL rookie of the year. It earned him the status of the best prospect in the world and the number one overall pick in the draft. He hit the ground running with Chicago as he had 72 points in 82 games en route to four straight 70+ point seasons. Then all of the personal accolades and team success followed in short order.
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He deserves to have his number retired by London for what he did as a member of the organization and for what he has done since leaving for the National Hockey League. Knights GM Mark Hunter called Kane’s year one of the three to four best in team history. It was a great achievement for Kane to do so well and be taken first in the draft and he should be proud of this honor.