Language barrier aside, Blackhawks' Kane, Panarin building a bond

After the Blackhawks' plane returned from New Jersey last week, Patrick Kane gave Artemi Panarin a ride home.

Some fans might think it was an awfully quiet car, especially with Panarin still a long way from speaking English fluently.

But they'd be wrong.

"He tried to talk English the whole way home and he just kept talkin' and talkin' the whole time," Kane said. "Half the stuff you understand and half the stuff you don't."

Kane and Panarin have become awfully tight in a short period of time, and much of it has to do with Panarin's personality. The 24-year-old Russian almost always has a smile on his face and even knows how to poke fun at a player collecting $13.8 million this season.

• Two weeks ago, when talking about the Hawks' scoring woes, Panarin said of Kane: "Pete's got to hit me with some better passes."

• On Tuesday, after talking about Artem Anisimov using his body to screen the goalie, Panarin said: "Kane's pretty good at screening (too) ... he just doesn't want to go in front of the net."

Credit Kane for taking the ribbing in stride and wholeheartedly embracing his new teammate.

"I really like him as a person, I like him as a kid and I really like talking to him because he is a funny kid," Kane said. "We have fun with each other."

As for the language barrier, Panarin's progress likely is hampered by being on a team with just two Russian-speaking teammates in Viktor Tikhonov and Anisimov. Players who don't have that pretty much have to take a crash course in English or risk falling behind on the ice and feeling isolated off it.

"When I came over two years ago for (AHL) playoffs in Springfield (Mass.), I understand it, but I couldn't talk that much," said Marko Dano, who is from Trenchin, Slovakia. "But last year (in Columbus/Springfield) … I had to talk because I didn't have anybody to talk to in Slovakian language, so I had to learn."

Dano went from being able to say just a few words to being almost fluent in a year.

"There's times when guys are talking and you don't understand and you kind of want to join in the conversation," Tikhonov said. "You want to say something but maybe you're afraid to say the wrong thing or you're going to sound funny. Obviously it's something he's working on."

Tikhonov said Panarin's English is getting better, and there are times when he has asked to translate and Panarin tells him: "I got it."

As for the comedic side of Panarin, the media sees it almost every time he's interviewed. Take these two examples from Tuesday:

• Asked what makes Anisimov such a good fit on his line, Panarin said: "He's got a good contract."

• Then asked if he thinks there's any way he can catch Alex Ovechkin, who is on the verge of breaking Sergei Fedorov's record for most goals scored by a Russian in the NHL, Panarin said: "If I can play as long as Jagr."

Jaromir Jagr, of course, is 43 years old and playing for Florida. Panarin, by the way, is 479 goals behind Ovechkin going into Thursday's action.

"He's good with the one-liners, that's for sure," Kane said. "Even in English - it might take you a couple seconds to understand what he's trying to say, but then it makes it even funnier."