Confident Kane slaps away any talk of sophomore jinx

After successfully meeting one challenge as a rookie, Patrick Kane is ready for another: Beating the so-called sophomore jinx.

A year ago some questioned whether Kane's size would prevent him from being the dynamic player on the NHL level that he was in juniors.

But Kane answered those questions by scoring 21 goals, leading the Blackhawks in scoring with 72 points, and winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.

"People talk about a sophomore slump, but for us we were playing against the best players all year, the (Nicklas) Lidstroms, (Pavel) Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg, so we have a year under our belt for that, and we have a lot of confidence," Kane said of himself and second-year center Jonathan Toews. "People were keying on us all year. We just have to go out and play hockey."

Teammate Adam Burish sees Kane as a player who loves to answer challenges.

"He loves the spotlight," Burish said. "He carries himself in this way that we laugh at. I remember before that first shootout goal he scored against (Dominik) Hasek and Detroit last year, I looked at Kevyn Adams on the bench and said, 'Look at this kid, he's smiling.' He looks over at the bench and kind of gives us a grin.

"Of course, he knows in the back of mind he's going to be a target every time he plays now, but he loves that," said Burish. "He hopes that every time he's on the ice that they're going to shadow him or there's going to be somebody chirping at him or yelling at him or hitting him. He's just going to turn around and take that big, wide mouth guard and smile at the guy and probably some say little goofy remark to him.

"He's got no worries in the world. You can tell him anything you want, that you're going to kill him or rip his head off. He knows in the back of his head he's going to say, 'I'm better than you, I'm going to beat you.'"

Kane admits it took him some time last season to realize he could be an offensive force on the biggest stage in the world for hockey.

"If you play against guys like Lidstrom and Jarome Iginla and you do well, you realize you can do well against anyone," Kane said. "That's what caught up to me last year. Once I realized it was just a game and to go out and play the game I've played for 10 or 12 years, that's when you really start playing better."

Kane believes he can score more goals than 21, setting his sights on 35 to 40.

"I had a lot chances last year when I either missed the net or tried to shoot it too hard," Kane said. "With the trade of (Robert) Lang, I think it puts a little more pressure on guys like myself and Jonathan and Pat Sharp and Marty (Havlat). But we like that pressure. We like to have the puck in our hands and game the game on our stick."

The Hawks see Kane and Toews as special talents and expect them to be even better in their second year.

"They're going to have a tougher time at first, but they're going to battle through it," general manager Dale Tallon said. "Having (Brian) Campbell on the ice will open up things for them. You have to pay attention to him coming late, and I think that will open things up for those kids."