PLYMOUTH, Mich. — Entering his 19th NHL season, Patrick Kane has seemingly won it all: three Stanley Cups, a scoring title, regular season MVP and playoff MVP. But there is one achievement the 36-year-old still covets.
“I look at my career and what I’ve accomplished and the one thing that’s kind of missing is a gold in best on best,” Kane said on Tuesday. “So, it’d be fun to have that opportunity.”
Kane, who turns 37 in November, is right on the cusp as he was among the 44 players Team USA invited to their Olympic orientation camp this week in Plymouth, Michigan. The 2026 Games in Milan will mark the first time the NHL sends players to the Olympics in 12 years. Kane, now a Detroit Red Wing after 16 years in Chicago, is looking for his third Olympic appearance; the winger was on the 2010 team in Vancouver (which won silver, after falling to rival Canada in a thrilling gold medal game) and 2014 team in Sochi.
Several players admitted they are rooting for Kane to make the team. “I think every guy here is a Patrick Kane fan,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “For a lot of younger guys, myself included, we all looked up to him, we all wanted to be Patrick Kane. He’s a very big deal for our sport, and especially USA Hockey.”
Kane, however, doesn’t want to be selected based on past laurels or name recognition.
“I don’t want that to be a thing either, where you’re getting selected for the team because of all that stuff,” Kane said. “You want to be selected for the player you are now and what you can bring to the team now.”
Team USA General Manager Bill Guerin told ESPN last winter that Kane was among the final and most difficult cuts for the Four Nations team. Guerin personally met with Kane at the rink in Detroit to deliver the news.
“You respect the gesture of them coming up and telling in person, but you’re still disappointed by it,” Kane said. “And I remember we played Pittsburgh maybe a week or two later, and then [former coach Mike] Sullivan wanted to talk to me after too. It was just like, it kind of rubs it in even more.”
Kane said he ultimately understood why he wasn’t selected: in his first full season back from hip resurfacing surgery, Kane scored just three goals and 10 points in his first 20 games before the rosters were due.
“I didn’t really expect to make it just the way I was playing how many good American players there are,” Kane said. “Definitely don’t want that to happen again where I’m in a situation where I’m not playing…
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