I think I owe it to myself to put my best effort forward and prove how good I can be.
Patrick Kane
It has been a motto of mine my whole life - just be yourself.
There are great fans in Chicago. I think you'd rather have them recognize than not recognize you.
I've noticed if you look too far ahead, it only works negatively on you.
It's pretty funny, just driving by in a cab, and you see a huge billboard of yourself on the side of a hotel, like a 100-by-100 poster hanging up.
Just try to get the puck and make plays, not so much worry about scoring or getting an assist or points, just try to get it and make plays. That should take care of itself.
I think, for me, I'm a player that wants the puck, and I'm a better player when I have it.
It's good to get out there and kind of move the body around a little bit, play some hockey, enjoy Nashville as a city and spend some time with family and friends.
I like Joe Sakic. Coming out of Buffalo, I obviously like Alexander Mogliny, Pat LaFontaine. Hasek is up there. Miroslav Satan. Whoever seemed to be a good player at the time I'd watch. Jagr too. I tried to learn a lot from those guys.
It's cool that I'm 20 and am on the cover of the video game. A lot of kids play hockey, and a few get drafted, and only a few get to be on the cover. It's a great feeling.
Whether it's just walking down the street to try to go to a movie, go to dinner, something like that, there are always a few people that recognize you.
Obviously, not playing a game before playoffs is something that happened, but especially going into the playoffs, you try to feel yourself out, where you're at, and then get right into game tempo and jump right in and play where you were before the injury.
Especially in the day and age now with social media and cameraphones and things like that, you always have to act like you're being watched.
For me personally, I try to use my size to my advantage where I can either slip by guys or try to create more space for myself.
I wouldn't be face-washing anyone in real life. I'd be skating to the bench real fast to get away.
Obviously, you want to help the team win in any way possible. If that's scoring goals, great.
If I was bigger I might not have had the same skill set as I do, the speed.
People might not view me as competitive as I really am.
When you're 18, 19, you think you know everything, but you have no clue about anything.
I've always prided myself on being myself and trying to stick true to who I am and how I was raised.
I'm probably the guy who keeps it loose around the room and tries to joke around with guys before the game, keeping things funny.
I love to play the game, love to be around the rink, and love to joke around with my teammates and have some fun.
I try to pride myself on being involved with the fans and taking pictures when they're asked for because I know I was that little kid one day that really looked up to stars like myself, and I try to give them that on my behalf.
It's kind of crazy to think I'm still 22 and going into my fifth season. Time has been flying by. I think it's about that time I really take the next step to the elite level.
It's kind of cool to have the whole country at your back. Not just a city, but the whole country is rooting for you.
It's funny: when you're skating around during warm-ups, I'll see signs that say things like: 'Kane, Prom?' We have a fun, young team, and girls are asking you to the prom and giving you their numbers.
I love to score goals, and I love to plan my celebrations.
When I go down the ice, I feel it, the wind in the side of my hair, and then I got the party in the back.
It's obviously disappointing and surreal when you see someone else win the Stanley Cup.
Obviously ,you want to demand the puck; you want to have it as much as you can because you feel like good things can happen when it's on your stick.
Anytime you hear different things - whether it's trade rumors or people saying you're not living up to your complete potential - you're obviously going to get ticked off about that.
That's something USA Hockey has been trying to do for a long time is prove that we can play with the Canadians and the Russians and the Swedes and Finns consistently on a tournament basis.
If I score a goal on the road, I come home, and that's probably the first thing I'm doing, pullin' up the laptop and watching. Can't watch it in front of the teammates, or else I'll get made fun of.
A lot of the players that I play with who are Canadian, they call me Patty. Before then, I never heard it. I didn't mind Patty.
I know hockey is growing in the U.S., and it's becoming more popular, but anything to get the game out there and see how we view it. We view it as the best game in the world.
I don't know if I expected to be a captain of an All-Star team. It's pretty cool.
I think for me, personally, I'm a guy who has watched ESPN ever since I've been growing up. You turn it on, and it's one of the first stories - the Blackhawks and hockey, which you don't really see on that station. That's cool to see.
I'll always welcome some extra shifts and some extra ice time, and it's my job to be as prepared as possible to play those minutes.
I stickhandle a lot at practice. I watch a lot of hockey, so I try to either pick up something from other players or watch some video and see what kind of move would work in the same situation.
I think the big thing is you really have one chance to do this... to play hockey for a living, you have one chance at your career, and you have to take full advantage of it.
I still love playing the game, and it's amazing we can do this as a so-called 'job,' and it's amazing we can come to the rink every day and play the game we love.
It's always cool to go to different places and see what's really out there in the world.
I did charity events with the Cup all the time.
There are some guys you definitely would not want dating your sister - especially hockey players.
You spend enough time with someone, you're going to have your run-ins.
For me, I was really lucky to go to a city like Chicago where the team was struggling at the time, and I was able to go in and play right away.
For PSP, we play the 'SOCOM' game as a team on the plane, and it's pretty cool because you can connect to everyone.
You grow up... you spend five years rooming with each other, and you're going to get sick of each other at times. And you're going to have some good times as well.
I love the game of hockey. I love being part of it. I think I know a lot about the game.
I probably spend the most time with Toews: we have the same schedule, and we're roomies on the road; we sit next to each other. We do a lot of promotions together.
