Kane gives up seat for soldier, misses Panarin
About three weeks after the Blackhawks were eliminated by Nashville in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Patrick Kane turned some heads when he offered his first-class seat to a soldier on an American Airlines flight.
Asked to recount the story at the Blackhawks Convention in Chicago on Friday, Kane said he saw "a couple military men" walk by and sit in the back of the plane. He approached a flight attendant to let her know that he wanted to switch seats with one of them.
The attendant later tweeted out the good deed, although Kane didn't realize how big a deal it became because he shut off his phone for two weeks while on vacation.
"I didn't really realize it was going to take off like that or anything, but it was just something in the moment where I asked if they wanted to have my first-class seat," Kane said. "One of them took it. It was cool he did that, and I got to sit next to another soldier and talk to him the whole plane ride.
"I think those are moments that kind of ground you a little bit; humble you a little bit. You hear about their lifestyle and what they're going through."
Sad to see him go:
Patrick Kane didn't sugarcoat his feelings when the subject of Artemi Panarin being traded to Columbus for Brandon Saad came up Friday.
"I'd be lying to you if I was sitting up here saying I wasn't disappointed when it first went down. No doubt about it," Kane said.
It's easy to see why. Panarin gave Kane the ultimate left winger - one who played with speed, vision and even some grit. They had incredible chemistry, not just on the ice, but off it as well.
"It was just fun to play with him every night," Kane said. "Miss him for sure, but here's another opportunity. I mean, I really like our roster."
Kane averaged 79 points per 82 games from 2007-15, then 98 per 82 games in two seasons with Panarin.
Dineen on his future:
Assistant coach Kevin Dineen said Friday he wouldn't pass up a chance to run another team if a GM came calling, but he's also focused on the here and now.
"You go out and you do your own job as good as you can do it and if the opportunity pops up, it pops up," said Dineen, who will enter his fourth season with the Hawks. "But at the end of it, know that you're very, very fortunate to be right where you are.
"You just go to work every day, enjoy the players, enjoy the staff and have a nice Stanley Cup ring for the work that we did. That's a good thing for me."
Dineen, 53, was among the candidates for Colorado's vacancy last season, but the job went to Jared Bednar. Dineen led the Panthers to a Southeast Division title in 2011-12 but was let go 16 games into the 2013-14 campaign.