Patrick Kane’s points streak is over at 26 games. I’ll be quite honest with you: I’m somewhat relieved.
Patrick Kane’s points streak won’t be remembered because it peaked too early
It was significant for many reasons. But history might forget it.
Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Kane’s success just months removed from well-publicized rape accusations presented a moral quandary for me (and, I assume, many other writers in the game). What he was doing on the ice was sensational. But what had happened off the ice (I’m referring to the months-long situation as a whole, mind you) hovered over the entire streak like an ominous grey cloud.
I feared even acknowledging the streak would come off as praise, no matter how I delicately I tried to handle it. I believe I was proven correct there. The USA Today tried to wade into that territory and it ended horribly. Biding my time as the streak continued while I figured out how to approach it seemed like the best approach.
As it turns out, I don't have to. The streak ended on Tuesday when the Colorado Avalanche shut out the Blackhawks. But I still admit Kane's streak is worth a post-mortem on two levels.
It is significant, both for the obvious (and important) discussion surrounding him this season and for a few hockey-related notes.
And from both of those perspectives, it might also become insignificant.
So, at great risk, I’ll try to navigate a minefield and explain why.
Why it’s significant
For better or worse, Kane’s streak kept the larger discussion of sexual assault in sports on the forefront of the NHL’s storylines months after the investigation ended. Worse, because it only made those championing him while marginalizing sexual assault as a whole an even louder minority. Worse, because it led to the inevitable “hero” narratives I mentioned above. Worse, because it kept a player who so many were (justifiably) sick about hearing in the news.
But better, because it kept focus on how we, as a sports society, could be better. For the first time I can remember, a scandal that hurt a player’s reputation was immediately followed by historic performances by that player. That forced the hockey community into an uncomfortable position, but it did keep us talking about victims of sexual assault, how we glorify athletes and the league’s overall responses to recurring incidents of violence against women. Those are all important conversations. Kane stayed in the headlines and kept us discussing them on some level.
And by all means, we still should now.
If I’m going to commit to this post-mortem, I do need to point out how the streak also mattered in a hockey context. So, bear with me.
There's the obvious records at play here. The streak is the longest by an American-born NHLer. It's the longest since Mats Sundin reached the 30-game mark in 1992-93. Any time you do something that hasn't been done in 20-plus years, it's pretty remarkable.
But the streak takes on more importance considering the era the league is in. Scoring rates league-wide are the lowest in more than a decade. When Wayne Gretzky set his record of 51 games in 1983-84, the league average was 3.83 goals per game. In 2015, that average is down to 2.46. Even the best players in the NHL rarely reach double digit point streaks before getting blanked. Kane basically influenced the scoreboard every night for two months.
And in doing so, he dragged his team into playoff contention. Chicago’s start was entirely unremarkable, but they’ve gone 15-7-4 and hold one of the best records in the league. It’s no wonder why. They were basically guaranteed one goal every game.
Why it ultimately isn’t
And yet, will we remember Kane’s streak years from now? History says no.
Gretzky’s record is often compared to Joe DiMaggio’s MLB record of 56 consecutive games with a hit. Both are considered untouchable records. In 2006, Chase Utley grabbed headlines for putting together a hitting streak seemingly destined to reach DiMaggio’s mark.
It ended at 35 games. The sporting world moved on. I’m not sure how many people outside Philadelphia can recall that streak immediately. Utley finished seventh in NL MVP voting that year. It became a footnote in a pretty good career.
I can’t help but feel like Kane’s streak will suffer the same fate. Both ended about 20-ish games short of the record.
Kane's also began and ended before the season is half over. Tantalizing storylines were already burying his streak before it ended on Tuesday. Will Steven Stamkos be traded? Can Sidney Crosby be fixed? The Dallas Stars' emergence as a Stanley Cup contender is arguably the biggest storyline in Kane's own division.
Kane’s success mattered to his team and made a dent on the record books. But it didn’t scratch Gretzky’s record. And there’s so much season left, it might not make the top five moments of the year once the Stanley Cup is awarded.
He will get his Hart Trophy in June. And then I think the streak will be lost to history until his time for the Hockey Hall of Fame comes.
For Hawks fans, the streak was incredibly fun to watch. For other fans, the streak was nauseating after a summer that tarnished his reputation in their eyes. Now that it’s over, it can and will give way to the countless interesting stories around the league at the moment.
That the streak will fade quietly into the background was probably as inevitable as its end.
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