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Kane Won’t Be Making Red Wings Debut in Hometown

Kane likely to see first Detroit action Thursday at home against San Jose

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5 months ago

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Patrick Kane, Red Wings
Patick Kane isn't going to make his Red Wings debut on Tuesday at Buffalo.

The romance of Patrick Kane skating for the first time in a Detroit Red Wings jersey in his hometown isn’t going to happen.

Kane was indicating on Monday that he didn’t anticipate being in the lineup on Tuesday as Detroit plays at Buffalo against the Sabres. He was born and raised in the Western New York city and much of his family still lives there. The final decision, though, is resting with the team’s training and medical staff.

“I don’t expect to play tomorrow but we’ll see what they all think,” Kane said. “I’m hoping Thursday. We’ll have a conversation with them. Nothing really definitive right now.”

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde was quick to put the kibosh on any notion that Kane might be a hometown hero on Tuesday.

“I think tomorrow would be a little ambitious,” Lalonde said. “Ideally, we’ll give him a morning skate tomorrow, similar practice Wednesday and kind of go from there.”

Thursday vs Sharks Likely Kane Debut

That would put Kane playing at home on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks as his most likely Red Wings bow.

“This was his first practice in a long time, so I think he needed those reps,” Lalonde said after Monday’s workout. “Those are real reps, five-on-five type reps. Probably give him a similar look on Wednesday and go from there.”

From Kane’s point of view, the major issue he’s facing is getting back up to game speed.

“I think the biggest thing is just going to be getting up to game speed, NHL speed again,” Kane said. “It might take some games to get up to speed and just playing at this level. If it takes a couple of weeks, that’s what it is. We’ll get there eventually.

“The exciting thing is my body feels good. That’s a big step in that direction.”

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