SAN JOSE, Calif. — Auston Matthews, a leading face of the next wave of NHL stars, was barely old enough to drive when Patrick Kane debuted for the Blackhawks.
Like many of the league’s youngsters, he spent a lot of his teenage years watching Kane’s highlights on YouTube and emulating his moves. Now they’re in the All-Star Game together, and it’s surreal to see Kane as the grizzled old-timer of this year’s group.
“I’m sure it’s a little weird for him,” Matthews mused. “He’s what, 28 or 29?”
Try 30.
“Thirty? Well yeah, maybe he is the old man now,” Matthews said. “But he’s still an incredible player. He still gets it done. He puts you on the edge of your seat every time he’s out there.”
That’s why age isn’t a sensitive subject for Kane in Year 12. He earned his way to San Jose with 29 goals and 71 points — he’s on pace for career highs — and looks as agile as ever.
Getting older is merely a novelty to Kane, who is one of eight 30-somethings on the Hawks and just four years younger than his coach. This is his eighth All-Star appearance, and he noticed as soon as the rosters came out that it’s the most of any player in this year’s game.
He shook his head and laughed. He’s seen dozens of All-Stars come and go over the past decade, and 22 of this year’s selections are making their first or second appearance.
“It’s pretty cool that they watched me when they were younger and they wanted to take some parts of my game to put into their game,” Kane said. “When I hear that, I don’t think, ‘Oh man, I’m like so old,’ or whatever. It’s cool that these guys like me.”
He remembers being in that phase when he first made it in 2009, which doesn’t feel like a decade ago to him.
He was one of the upstarts in Montreal that year, along with Jonathan Toews, and was dazed in the presence of Mike Modano, Joe Thornton and Alexei Kovalev.
“All of a sudden you’re considered to be an All-Star with these guys,” said Kane, who has made it every year since other than when it was scrapped for the Olympics or because of labor issues. “It was pretty wild.”
It makes him wish he’d asked for a stick or a jersey from one of them like a lot of his young teammates will after Saturday’s game at SAP Center. They’ll surely be stopping by Kane’s locker before they go.
Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho started clicking on Kane videos when he was 15 and still does. Same story for Mikko Rantanen from the Avalanche, who is making his All-Star debut and thought, “It’s pretty funny that I’m here with him,” after watching the Hawks’ first Stanley Cup run when he was 14.
Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen, a first-time All-Star at 19, is just happy he doesn’t have to deal with Kane since they’re both on the Central Division team.
One of the newcomers already had his moment with Kane last summer. Bruins right wing David Pastrnak, 22, met him when the two shot a Bauer commercial in Maine.
“What he can do on the ice is unbelievable,” Pastrnak said. “Sometimes you don’t recognize it as much during games when you’re playing against each other because you’re don’t have much time, but when I saw him this summer, it’s just crazy.
“It’s awesome to skate around with him and see what he can do.”
The feeling is mutual. Kane is just as impressed by the young All-Stars as they are by him.
He thinks of himself as still a kid in some ways, and this weekend remains a thrill for him. He can’t imagine skipping it for rest or treating it like an inconvenience.
And one of his favorite parts is getting to hang out with the other players, regardless of the age difference.
“I love being here at these types of events,” Kane said. “It’s cool to meet the young guys, too. This is a young man’s league, and it’s fun to talk to them here about their seasons and their careers and different things like that.
“I’m getting a little bit older, but I’m still having fun with it. I guess it’s weird to be one of the older guys because I was always one of the younger guys coming to these events, but it’s still pretty fun.”
