Detroit City Wire

Patrick Kane returned to full practice with the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center on Thursday morning after missing almost three weeks due to an upper-body injury. Kane was injured late in the third period during a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 17 and has since missed eight games.

Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan addressed Kane's potential return for Friday night's game against the New York Rangers, stating, “I made contact with him a couple of times about how he felt, and he said that he felt pretty good. I think that’s positive, but that decision will be made tomorrow when we get a little more information.”

Kane expressed satisfaction with his progress over recent days and eagerness to rejoin the lineup. “I was pretty confident that I was going to be able to get in a practice and skate with the team today,” Kane said. “But yeah, you never really know once you get into it, so pretty happy I was able to participate and go the whole way.”

He described his rehabilitation process: “A lot of skating the past couple weeks, working out and different things like that. It kind of felt like a couple weeks of summer training, to be honest with you. Get back into action, I think my conditioning will be there and shouldn’t drop off too much.”

During Thursday’s session, Kane resumed his usual position on Detroit’s second line alongside Alex DeBrincat and Marco Kasper. McLellan commented on this arrangement: “He finishes off that line well when they’re playing good. Cat, I thought on the trip, had some good looks, good shots and produced offensively. I think there’s more in Marco Kasper. App did an admirable job when he was up there, but [Kane] just finishes that line off and certainly the power play. He’s a guy that a lot of it runs through.”

Although Kane did not join the team for their recent five-game road trip in the West, he praised his teammates for their performance during his absence.

Detroit currently holds a strong position in the Atlantic Division standings with nine wins in 13 games (9-4-0; 18 points), which is second-best in their division.

“A lot of focus was people wanting to talk about playoffs and things like that, but in here the focus was more about getting off to a good start and putting ourselves in a good position," Kane said. "I think we got to be happy with where we’re at right now.”

On Thursday morning, Detroit also began its four-day Hockeytown Centennial FanFest at MotorCity Casino Hotel as part of its 100th anniversary celebrations. Single-day passes remain available for this event as well as tickets for Saturday's "100 Years of Hockeytown: A Night at the Fox Theatre."

McLellan reflected on Detroit's history: “The logo, the jerseys, the 100 years, the Winged Wheel, Hockeytown, the legends that have come through – you can go places, whether it’s a bookstore or online, and find documentaries about the Red Wings,” McLellan said. “That doesn’t happen with a lot of the new teams. They just don’t have the history… Where teams are talking about building new areas or their first arena, we’re four in now. That in itself is remarkable. That’s all part of being around for 100 years and being an Original Six team.”