The Chicago Blackhawks were hoping for some good news on the Patrick Kane front this week, but despite joining the team for drills on Wednesday, it doesn't look like he'll be back on the ice for a game any time soon.
“It’s not realistic. It’s not possible,” Kane said of the idea that he could be playing soon. “You’ll drive yourself crazy if you start thinking of certain dates.”
Kane is still not taking contact in practices, and he’s been avoiding slap shots and one-timers, but he has been skating quite a bit in recent days, and head coach Joel Quenneville has gone so far to say that Kane is “flying” on the ice. Despite that seeming optimism about his recovery time, it still sounds as though Kane will be out for a while longer with a broken collarbone that he suffered in late February against the Florida Panthers.
“He’s doing what he can do,” the coach said after practice. “But there’s still a process that has to be followed there. He’s a ways away.”
Wednesday marks exactly five weeks since the injury, which was originally slated to keep Kane out of action for 12 weeks according to team surgeons and trainers. While Kane would likely like to come back sooner than that (his return date would likely fall sometime during the Western Conference Final if it comes to fruition), he’s making sure to stay patient and to stay on track with his recovery.
“You’ve got to make sure you’re not really rushing an injury like this because it doesn’t make any sense to do that,” he said.
