Patrick Kane reveals why he chose to sign with Red Wings.

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The three-time Stanley Cup champ also reflected on his brief time in New York

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Three-time Stanley Cup Champion Patrick Kane signed with the Detroit Red Wings last month and is eying a return to the ice this week against San Jose after having hip resurfacing surgery this past summer.

The surgery, which requires a metal cap to go on top of the ball joint of the hip and a metal plate on the inside of the socket of the joint, is a procedure that has many unknowns to hockey players. There have been players who have come back short-term, but nothing long and sustainable. Kane is optimistic that he will be able to play for a long time because of the surgery.

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“I’m very optimistic,” Kane said. “Hopefully I’ll be even better than I was in the past.”

His hip started bothering him back in 2020. He thought he could just play through it, but it only got worse and worse. Kane even noted that it impacted his play and performance in New York, when he signed with the Rangers last season.

“Going to New York was a new challenge for me,” Kane said in the report. “I was really excited about it but it didn’t really go the way I expected or the team expected. I figured at that point it was probably time to do something to give myself a chance to get back to a high level — almost more mentally rather than physically. I don’t want to say [I was] miserable, but I was thinking about [my hip] every day.”

The signing last month with the Red Wings was a bit unexpected, as Kane could have gone home to Buffalo or joined teams like the Panthers and the Bruins. In a report from ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, Kane lays out the thought process of his decision to move to the Motor City, and it is larger than just playing with good friend and former Blackhawk Alex DeBrincat.

Part of the reason was from Kane’s youth, Kaplan reports. When he was 14 he played for a Triple-A program in Michigan and stayed with Red Wings legend Pat Verbeek. Once Kane learned that Michigan was just as hockey-obsessed as he was, he fell in love with the history, tradition, and culture of the Red Wings program.

DeBrincat being on the roster definitely helped, as coach Derek Lalonde had a plan to put Kane on his line and make the ice wider for the talented winger to take advantage of.