Patrick Kane was born November 19, 1988 in Buffalo, NY. Selected first overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, Kane honed his skills with the OHL's London Knights and the U.S. National Team Development Program.
An extremely skilled forward, Kane spent a pair of seasons with the U.S. National Team Development program before he joined the Ontario Hockey League in 2006-07. Upon his arrival in the OHL, Kane went on to capture the league scoring title by tallying 62 goals, 83 assists, for 145 points. He was awarded the league's "Rookie of the Year" award in his only season in the OHL.
After being drafted first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks, Kane saw action in six pre-season games and went on to play his first NHL game in Minnesota on October 4, 2007. Kane recorded 16 points in the month of October and went on to lead all NHL Rookies in points, powerplay goals, and power play points by the season's end. He also led the Blackhawks in points, assists, power play points and power play assists. Although the Blackhawks failed to miss the playoffs, Kane was one of the bright spots on the franchise's line-up. He was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy at the 2008 NHL Awards, beating out teammate Jonathan Toews and Washington's Nicklas Backstrom for the league's top rookie prize.
In 2008-09 the young Blackhawks team went on a surprising run in the Stanley Cup playoffs with Patrick Kane as their offensive catalyst. Kane scored 9 times in 16 playoff games before the Blackhawks were finally eliminated in the conference final by the Detroit Red Wings.
In February of 2010, Kane was part of the US Olympic team that brought home the silver medal in a thrilling overtime final at the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
Kane returned to Chicago looking to add more silver to his collection - The Stanley Cup.
In the 2010 playoffs, the Blackhawks survived a first round scare from the Nashville Predators, a hard fought battle with the Vancouver Canucks and steamrolled over the San Jose Sharks en route to the Stanley Cup Final where they would take on the upstart Philadelphia Flyers.
The Blackhawks would defeat the Flyers in six games, winning the franchise's first Stanley Cup since 1961. It was Patrick Kane who lived out a childhood dream by scoring the Cup-winning goal at 4:06 of the first overtime period.
