Kane guesses 'a couple weeks' before he's 100 percent

CALGARY, Alberta - It's no secret Patrick Kane hasn't been the same player since suffering a high ankle sprain on Dec. 30 in Detroit.

Kane's production is down and he hasn't been able to dart into the scoring areas with the same quickness. He had 1 goal in 16 games going into Thursday's game against the Flames and has fallen out of the NHL's top 30 in scoring after being in the top 10 through most of the first three months.

Kane said Thursday he playing at about "85 or 90 percent."

"It'll probably be a couple weeks before it's 100 percent," Kane said. "It's tough, but playing through pain I guess is something you have to learn. It's getting better now so that's a good thing.

"The biggest thing is getting ready for the end of the season and playoffs. I'm doing whatever I can to get get healthy for that."

After playing in the Winter Classic on New Year's Day two days after suffering the injury, Kane missed only two games before returning to the lineup. In hindsight he thinks he probably should have sat out a few more games.

"Probably a couple more would have been good," Kane said. "Who knows how many more it would have been, but that was then and this is now and I'm fine playing now.

"My situation was I couldn't watch anymore. I just wanted to be on the ice."

Some players who have had high ankle sprains during the season said it doesn't completely heal until the summer.

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville has seen signs of Kane returning to dangerous form.

"He's certainly trending back to getting his game where he wants it to be," Quenneville said. "The last couple, three games you can see him having a little more strength in the puck area and a little more patience with the puck.

"I always find that's probably the worst injury for any type of player to come back form, especially skill guys that rely on that versatility and one edge. We're seeing progress, but it doesn't happen overnight. You commend him that he's fighting through it."

Quenneville has no regrets about Kane missing only two games and playing through the problem.

"It's one of those injuries where if you stay off the ice it still doesn't get much better," Quenneville said.

Oh, Canada: The Hawks went into Thursday's game 10-0 against teams from Canada.

Quirky stat?

"That's the biggest one," joked Joel Quenneville, a native Canadian.

The Hawks are 3-0 against Edmonton, 2-0 against Vancouver and 1-0 against Toronto and Ottawa. They were 3-0 against the Flames before Thursday.