Kane's roller coaster going up with All-Star Game captain nomination
To say that 2015 was an emotional whirlwind for Patrick Kane might be the understatement of last year.
From hearing about the death of former teammate Steve Montador to breaking his clavicle to a triumphant return in the Stanley Cup playoffs to the sexual assault investigation that dragged on for months, Kane's emotions were probably not on even keel very often.
Not much changed as the calendar flipped to 2016 as Kane began the new year on a high with the NHL announcing he was named one of the four captains for the All-Star Game, which will take place in Nashville on Jan. 31.
“I don't know if I expected to be a captain of an all-star team,” Kane said after the Hawks wrapped up practice at the United Center. “It's pretty cool.”
Joining Kane will be Florida's Jaromir Jagr, Washington's Alex Ovechkin and Arizona's John Scott. The captains were selected by a fan vote that was held from Dec. 1-Jan. 1.
Scott's selection is evidence of what can happen in the Internet age when a group of fans starts a cause. The former Blackhawks enforcer was picked despite the fact he's been placed on waivers three times this season and has just 1 assist in 12 games. He did not play in the Coyotes' 3-4 loss at Edmonton on Saturday.
The NHL did not release vote totals.
“Hopefully Johnny shows up,” Kane said. “I think it would be something that would be good for the game; bring some more excitement to that All-Star Game.”
Scott is indeed going, telling Fox Sports Arizona's Todd Walsh: “It's one of those things where I don't want to be made a joke of, I don't want to be an embarrassment, I don't want to embarrass the game in that way. I talked to some people, I talked to a lot of former players and everyone just said, 'Go have fun with it and it'll be a good experience,' ”
The remaining players (six forwards, three defensemen, two goalies per team) will be announced Wednesday. This year's format will be a tournament in which 11-man teams from the Atlantic and Metropolitan divisions square off, while teams from the Central and Pacific divisions play in the other game. The winners face each other in the championship game for $1 million.
The games will be played under the new 3-on-3 overtime format the NHL adopted this season and will be 20 minutes long.
“You're gonna see a lot of skilled guys out there, you're gonna see a lot of goals,” Kane said. “It's gonna be fun for the fans to watch, just like it would be in overtime.”
Selecting Kane was an obvious slam dunk for fans as the Blackhawks' forward has 23 goals and 56 points, and put together a 26-game points streak that broke Bobby Hull's team record and was the longest in the NHL in more than 20 years.
“Very deserving, I'm happy for him. He's been dynamic this year,” said Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville.
Quenneville said he's looking forward to seeing the best players in the world go at it 3-on-3 for a full 20 minutes.
“A lot of days when you watch the All-Star Game, it's almost a 3-on-3 mentality. So now that it is, I think it's great,” he said. “When you watch games now (on TV) and all of a sudden you get a chance to watch the overtime, I mean you're glued to that game. You see a lot of different things.
“I just think that we're gonna see so many different types of looks that it might even enhance some of your thought processes in your own team game come 3-on-3 time.”
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Scouting report
Blackhawks (22-13-4) vs. Ottawa (18-14-6)
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WGN 720-AM
The skinny: When these teams squared off a month ago, Ottawa prevailed 4-3 in overtime. Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov scored for the Hawks. Kane also had 2 assists. ... The Senators are 1-3-1 in the last five games. They were shut out by New Jersey on Dec. 30. ... Mike Hoffman, who beat the Hawks by scoring 30 seconds into OT in the teams' last meeting, is Ottawa's leading goal-scorer with 18. He does, however, have just 1 goal in the last seven games. ... Corey Crawford starts in net for the Hawks.
Next: Pittsburgh Penguins at Console Energy Center, 6 p.m. Tuesday
— John Dietz