Kane's spin-o-rama pass impresses Savard

When Patrick Kane pulled off his scintillating spin-o-rama pass from the right circle to set up Marian Hossa's goal in Tuesday's win over Anaheim, there was one person watching in the United Center who certainly appreciated its beauty and execution.

That would be Denis Savard, the spin-o-rama king himself, who mastered the move during his Hall of Fame career with the Hawks.

“I loved it,” Savard said Wednesday. “He doesn't do it a lot, but he knows what he's doing when he does. He knew exactly that Hossa was over there.”

Kane said one of the many messages he received after the game was from Savard, his first coach in the NHL.

“Savvy is the one who kind of created that move,” Kane said. “He gave me a call last night and left me a voice mail, so it was pretty cool to hear from him. It was definitely pretty special.”

Savard never planned any of his spin-o-ramas when he would come down on a defenseman, saying all the factors had to be right.

“It depends on the situation,” Savard said. “You don't come down the ice thinking you're going to do a spin-o-rama. You've got to have the right speed and the defenseman has to be close to you. It won't work every time.

“For me, I did it left to right, being a right-handed shot. He did his right to left. I've seen him do it on the other side, but it's easier doing it on the side he did because you don't have to worry about the other defenseman coming over and hitting you.”

Kane said he didn't intend to do a spin-o-rama when he skated in on Ducks defenseman Toni Lydman.

“You've got to be in the right position,” Kane said. “You've got to have a defenseman that kind of makes the first move and puts the stick out where you can turn and make that pass.

“It's a move I do on that (right) side. I don't think you can do it on the other side too much because you're cutting to the middle, which is kind of dangerous.”

Both Savard and Kane agreed the spin-o-rama isn't done to be flashy.

“You surprise a lot of defenseman that way,” Savard said. “You create speed when you come out of the spin and you're protecting the puck and you back off the defenseman. You get the defenseman crossing his feet, and that's what you want because it's difficult to recover.”

“It's definitely kind of a flashy move, but at the same time it's pretty productive, too,” Kane said. “You're still protecting the puck, but you get some acceleration out of the turn, too.”

Kane's teammates were impressed by the move that was shown on every highlights show Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

“I'd give him like an 8.5 because he passed it to Hossa instead of me,” joked Patrick Sharp. “Otherwise it's a 10. You can't get much better than that. I don't think too many guys in the league can do that.”

Speaking as a defenseman, Duncan Keith admired Kane's move.

“It's a pretty tough move to defend,” Keith said. “He's good at using that move. You might not get around the defenseman 100 percent, but it still allows him to get the puck to the other side where the defenseman's stick isn't.”

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville, a former defenseman, jokingly claimed he couldn't remember if Savard ever tried a spin-o-rama on him.

“He might have tried it, I don't know,” Quenneville said, laughing.

As for Kane's move, Quenneville said it takes special skill to pull it off.

“That's definitely high-end skill, that you're comfortable with the move and the ability to try it,” Quenneville said.

tsassone@dailyherald.com