Blackhawks' Kane to undergo surgery on left wrist
Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman wasn't sweating the news Friday that star winger Patrick Kane needs left wrist surgery less than two months before the start of training camp.
Kane will have a scaphoid fracture repaired on Tuesday but is expected to be ready to return in 6-8 weeks. There appears to be no chance Kane won't be healthy for the Oct. 7 season opener in Dallas.
Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said Kane first hurt his wrist in the second-to-last game of the regular season April 8 at Detroit and aggravated it during the course of summer workouts.
“In the playoffs guys are going to find ways to play and he wasn't doing any complaining about it,” Quenneville said.
“We just found out about (the extent of the injury) within the last day here,” Bowman said Friday. “It was a little sore and he got it checked out and it was one of those things where it needed to be fixed.
“Fortunately for us he'll be ready come training camp. You never want to have injuries, but in the summertime is the best time to have them.”
Kane admitted he knew something was wrong with his wrist.
“I guess now it's surgery time, but the good news is I'll be back for training camp,” Kane said. “It was kind of bothering me for a while. I think probably lifting and those sort of things didn't help it.
“I just wanted to get it checked out and I thought going into the doctor he'd tell me it was bruised or sprained or something and I would take a couple weeks off and that would be it. He came back with the news and it was obviously shocking (Thursday), but now I've grown to accept it and happy I'm getting it fixed.”
Kane looked bigger and more solid when he appeared for the start of the fourth annual Blackhawks convention on Friday.
“I think each and every summer he has gotten bigger, and his conditioning got better last season as well,” Quenneville said. “Just like his overall play, we expect him to keep improving and getting better as a player. Enhancing his body in the off-season will make him more effective over the year.”
Kane said he has been training hard to have the kind of big season the Hawks need from him.
“I feel that I've accomplished a lot in a short time this summer,” Kane said. “I can still do a lot of things, just not with my left arm. I can skate, I can run and do things with my right arm. I don't think it's going to be that big a setback — just find a way to get a stick in my hand and stickhandle and do those kind of things.”
There were X-rays taken after the injury occurred in April but they came up clear.
“It kind of bothered me in the playoffs a little, but we checked it out there there was no fracture. I knew something was wrong so I'm guessing working out and skating and shooting pucks didn't help and probably made it a bit worse.
“They say it's in an area where no blood can get to the fracture so it has to be fixed. It's not something that's going to affect me when the season comes. I'm happy we're doing it now than come to training camp and find out and then I'm out for two months.”
tsassone@dailyherald.com