Blackhawks’ Kane likes U.S. chances in Olympics

Patrick Kane’s mother, one sister and his girlfriend will be going with him to Sochi for the Olympics.

Kane is concerned about safety in Russia for the tournament — but not enough to keep his family away.

“You hear different things about it, so obviously you’re going to think about it, but at the end of the day, what can we really do about it?” Kane said. “It’s not our job to worry about that stuff. If something happens, it’s completely out of our control.

“If you’re worrying about that, your head’s in the wrong place.”

Kane likes the Americans’ chances of winning the gold medal. “I think they’re good,” he said. “The last time in 2010, for me to say they are as good as they are now, I think I’d be lying to you. I think we were rated fifth going into the tournament. We kind of played an underdog role and had some big wins.

“It’s a tournament that over a two-week period you have to come together quick as a team; you have to get good goaltending. Things escalate quickly. After your first three games, you could be one and done. Every game is huge. It’s definitely like an NHL playoff series.”

Keith durable:Not only is Duncan Keith one of the best defensemen in the NHL, he is one of the most durable. Keith returned to the lineup Sunday after missing Thursday#146;s loss at Minnesota because he was ill.It was the first game he missed this season and just the 16th of his career going back to 2005-06. Four times in nine seasons Keith has appeared in every game. He also missed practice Saturday.#147;He#146;s going to be all right,#148; Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.The new Red Wings?Are the Hawks the new gold standard in the NHL as far as franchises go?#147;What I think they#146;ve done an excellent job at is retaining or replenishing their group,#148; Detroit coach Mike Babcock said last week. #147;You used to have to be bad for a long time and in doing that they got (Jonathan) Toews and (Patrick) Kane and that group.#147;(Marian) Hossa ended being a guy, in hindsight, it would have been great if we would have kept him. He#146;s a star.#147;So when you look at it they#146;ve got a good group there, but what they#146;ve been able to do is retain or keep adding. The other thing that#146;s happened is initially when you win the Cup the cap was low enough you couldn#146;t retain anything.#147;Now as you win the Cup you get to retain your team because the cap is high enough.#148;Bickell benched:With Bryan Bickell struggling, Joel Quenneville benched the left winger and played defenseman Michael Kostka at forward on the third line. Bickell has only 2 goals in 17 games since returning from a knee injury.Warm thoughts:Weekend passes for the seventh annual Blackhawks convention go on sale Monday at 10 a.m.The convention will be held at the Hilton Chicago from July 18-20. Fans interested in attending may purchase weekend passes online at chicagoblackhawks.com or through Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000.The convention has sold out in each of its first six years.