April 02--He skated hard, he rifled wrist shots and he made crisp passes.
Patrick Kane is back -- sort of.
The Chicago Blackhawks winger participated in his first practice with teammates since suffering a broken left collarbone when he took the ice Wednesday at Johnny's IceHouse West. Kane was wearing a white non-contact sweater during the 45- minute practice and stayed on the ice afterward to get more work in.
"I thought it was a pretty good step (Wednesday) skating with the team," Kane said. "I'm happy about that. I'm not really sure what the next step is. I'm sure it would be contact and maybe finish some of the drills the guys were doing. We'll kind of see how I feel there. The most important thing for me is especially when I'm skating with the team and when I get a chance to step into the drills is get my timing back as best as I can and make sure that when they do clear me to play ... that I'm as ready as possible."
When that will be is the big question. The initial timetable called for Kane to be sidelined 12 weeks from the injury suffered Feb. 24 against the Florida Panthers. Despite rejoining his teammates Wednesday -- five weeks since sugery to stabilize the injury with a plate and screws -- Kane said the timetable remains the same.
"I think progress is still the same," Kane said "It's kind of like a patient time right now because you think you feel good, but you're still a little bit ways away. It's nice to be out there with the team (Wednesday) and skate with them and hopefully sooner rather than later I can do different things like contact and stuff like that. But I still think the timetable's the same and I'll just take it day by day and see what we can make of it.
"You never know what's going to happen," Kane added. "But they make those timetables because it's a certain type of injury. I guess you have to wait a little while for it to heal and for the bone to become itself again. I think it's frustrating, but it is what it is. Like I've been saying all along to everyone I've been talking to, it's something you've got to stay patient with and make sure you're not really rushing an injury like this because it doesn't make any sense to do that. You just put yourself back at Square One."
Kane reiterated that the most important thing at this stay is to stay patient and not rush back. That's not easy to do with the Hawks battling for the top spot in the Central Division.
"It's one of those things you wish you could be out there tomorrow with the guys and start playing right away, but it's not realistic -- it's not possible," Kane said. "You'll drive yourself crazy if you start thinking of certain dates when you can come back. I think the only thing I can really control is trying to heal as fast as I can, trying to get myself in the best shape possible and if it's seven weeks, great, if it's five weeks, great, if it's six weeks, great. Who knows what it's going to be in the end? I still think the timetable is at the 12-week mark. I think we're at five weeks (Wednesday). That puts us at seven. Kind of wait and see from there."
