Kane Recieves Hart Trophy And Loses it!

The Blackhawks selected him with the first overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

He currently has 39 goals (second to Ovechkin) and 53 assists (second to Erik Karlsson), although he leads the points race with 92, a full 12 ahead of Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars.

Kane leads the NHL with 32 power-play points and with 60 even-strength points, although he’s hearing Evgeny Kuznetsov’s footsteps for the latter category (57 points) as well as Sidney Crosby’s (55).

In May 2009, the Chicago Tribune reported that Kane would be the cover athlete for EA Sports’ NHL 10. In the final season of his initial rookie contract, Kane signed a 5-year, reported $31.5 million extension to remain with the Blackhawks on December 3, 2009. The deal was announced simultaneously with contract extensions to both Toews and defenseman Duncan Keith as well.

In the 2009–10 season, Kane finished with a career-high 88 points to rank ninth in the NHL in scoring. On June 9, 2010, Kane scored the overtime winner when he shot the puck under the pads of Flyers goalie Michael Leighton and into the net, winning the Blackhawks the Stanley Cup. The goal ended a 49-year Stanley Cup drought for the Blackhawks. It also made Kane the youngest player in NHL history to score a Stanley Cup winning goal in overtime, that title previously belonged to Bobby Orr in 1970. He was selected as an alternate captain for the 2011 NHL All-Star Game.

Adam Gretz thinks there’s a Hart case to be made for Thornton:

When you look at what Pavelski and Burns have done in their ice-time away from Thornton, it’s pretty clear that he is the one driving the bus for the group as all of their numbers see a pretty significant drop away from him. Pavelski has spent almost all of his ice-time at even-strength the past two seasons alongside Thornton, and I suspect that has played a sizable role in his continued goal-scoring surge.

When Thornton is not on the ice at all this season the Sharks are simply getting crushed. Without Thornton they are attempting just 49.3 percent of the total shot attempts during 5-on-5 play, a sign that they are spending way more time defending, while they have been outscored by a 93-73 margin in those minutes without him (a shockingly low goals for percentage of only 43.9 percent). That is a nearly seven percent drop in possession and an almost unbelievable 27.8 percent drop in goal differential.

 

By Greg Wyshynski

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