Blackhawks' Kane knew injury was bad right away

When Patrick Kane crashed into the United Center boards on Feb. 24, he knew he was injured badly.

Still, as he waited for the diagnosis, a part of him held out hope he could return sooner than later.

“I was just kind of thinking, 'Hopefully they tell me it's not as bad as I think,' Kane said Sunday, talking to the media for the first time since crashing into the boards on a hit by Florida's Alex Petrovic.

But once the doctors saw the X-rays, they confirmed Kane's fears. The MVP candidate, who was tied for the league lead at the time with 64 points, had a broken clavicle and would be out 12 weeks.

“I've kind of moved on from it now, but at the same time it was definitely a tough couple of days after you hear the news of the injury and the extent of how long you'll be out,” Kane said. “Especially when you're in the groove of playing games and looking forward to finishing the season strong and get into the playoffs, it definitely hurts. I'll try to do the best I can to get as ready as I can for playoffs and be ready to go when I come back.”

As for the play itself, Kane called it “kind of flukey.”

“I remember during the play I thought our defenseman was going to come down and pinch, so I kind of let up a little bit and tried to skate fast to the puck,” Kane said. “And as I was skating, (he) kind of cross-checked me in the back there and I lost my balance. As I was losing my balance, it looked like I was trying to either make a play or chip it back to the point, so I couldn't really protect myself going into the boards.”

Now Kane just hopes the Hawks can stay alive in the postseason long enough for him to return. That would probably mean they'll have to win the first two rounds of the playoffs, but the additions of Antoine Vermette, Timmo Kimonen and Andrew Dejardins certainly keep that dream alive.

“You can look back at the end of the year (and) if we have some good results in playoffs maybe you can say this was a blessing in disguise because of the moves we were allowed to make,” Kane said. “Acquired some very valuable assets, great leadership and a puck-moving defenseman in Kimmo, and then it looks like Vermette is going to fit in pretty well on our team.”