Kane Opens Up on Watching 4 Nations: "You Definitely Want to Be There and You Feel Like You're Missing out on Some Great Hockey"
Patrick Kane, arguably the greatest American hockey player ever, shares his thoughts on the 4 Nations and having to watch his country rather than play for it
Patrick Kane has a strong claim to being the greatest American hockey player ever. Now, as men's international best-on-best hockey has returned in high gear with the 4 Nations Face-Off, Kane is watching as a fan, instead of representing his country on the ice. The reason for that isn't too complicated. As Kane put it after today's Red Wings practice (the team's first since taking a week off for the international break), "I think this year I didn't play well enough to be picked for the team, so it's not like I'm blaming anyone or anything besides myself."
Still, it's not easy for a proud and accomplished player to watch from afar, given his extended history at being in the center of the sport's biggest moments. "It's tough," Kane said Tuesday, when asked about not being part of the team representing the United States for the 4 Nations. "I mean, you definitely want to be there and you feel like you're missing out on some great hockey and great opportunity too. It is what it is. Personally...you start looking back, I mean we missed nine years of it, right? So, those first four, five, or six years of those nine years were some of the best hockey I've played in my life, so obviously you think about those opportunities that were missed."
Of course, while Kane wanted to be playing in this event, it hasn't stopped him from enjoying the spectacle as a fan, joking about how "[I was] in Cabo there, and it's sunny out, and I'm sitting in the hotel room watching hockey."
And like every other American hockey fan, he was mesmerized by the furious start to Saturday night's game between the U.S. and Canada, saying of the scraps kicked off by Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, "Obviously [father] Keith Tkachuk was a great player and had a great career and to raise two kids that are fighting for Team USA three seconds into the game, that's gotta be an incredible feeling for him."
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The notion of international best-on-best hockey hardly requires justification, but you can formally count Kane among its proponents, as it relates to the overhaul health of the sport. Kane said Tuesday, "It seems like it's the best way to grow the game."
Finally, Kane isn't closing the book on his international career just yet, saying of potentially returning to Team USA for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, "Of course, that would be an amazing opportunity."
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