Kane, Toews playing as one
Their differences are striking, so much so that it makes you wonder how Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have developed their amazing chemistry.
Toews wears the maple leaf on his chest in international play. Kane dons the red, white and blue. Toews is a fearless leader who earned the nickname "Mr. Serious" from teammates. Kane is a glitzy acrobat on the ice who owns a smile that can light up a room.
Toews grew up in Winnipeg, playing shinny on an outdoor rink his dad created for him. Kane grew up in Buffalo, playing inside the local rinks.
Toews stands a healthy 6-foot-2. Kane is a diminutive 5-10.
Despite the differences, they are the two most important elements in the ongoing rebirth of hockey in Chicago, and they are strikingly different. But according to Kane and Toews, their differences make them one of the NHL's greatest singular sensations.
"It's almost like we're one person," Kane told NHL.com. "It's Kane and Toews, or Toews and Kane."
And neither name tops this ticket.
They're side by side, because Kane and Toews (or Toews and Kane if you prefer) believe that by embracing their relationship and the expectations that come with being who they are, the odds for an extraordinary run in Chicago dramatically increase...
It appears that Kyle Okposo is ready to make the step to the NHL. It will be interesting to see if Kyle plays the whole year with the Isles or not. I saw a few of his games last spring and I have to admit I wouldn't be surprised to see him play with the big club this season either.
Well-traveled Okposo ready to stick with Islanders.
If a player keeps a sweater from each team he plays on, then Kyle Okposo nearly filled a dresser just from last season.
A whirlwind campaign swept Okposo from the University of Minnesota to the Czech Republic for the World Junior Championship, then blew him to the American Hockey League's Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and eventually set him down in his own version of the Emerald City -- the Nassau Coliseum for his first taste of the NHL with the New York Islanders.
"It was an interesting ride, definitely," Okposo told NHL.com. "It was a little tough to keep track (of teams), but it was a fun season."
He plans on doing far less moving this season, as Long Island should become a more permanent home. The seventh pick in the 2006 Entry Draft almost assuredly will resume his role as a top-six forward on an Islanders club that has committed to rebuilding around young players.
In 9 games late last season with the Isles, Okposo had 2 goals and 3 assists, and the 6-foot-1, 200-pound right wing never looked out of place.
Okposo has been a star no matter where he's played. After posting 40 points in 40 games as a freshman at Minnesota in 2006-07, he had 7 goals and 11 points in 18 games as a sophomore when he decided he had reached his development ceiling and signed a contract with the Islanders last winter
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He finished his season in the NHL, and plans on using what he learned last season to keep him in one place in 2008-09.
"I feel like I'm ready for (the NHL)," Okposo said. "I can't wait to get to camp and show the staff what I can do and how I progressed throughout last year and this summer. I feel like I'm ready to have a good season."
Part of what will go into him having a good season was the foundation laid last season.
"From college to the (AHL) was a little tough, but it wasn't so bad; I adjusted pretty quickly," Okposo said. "It was more controlled. The guys weren't running around as much trying to kill people all the time, it was much more play your position and the puck will come to you type of attitude, as opposed to college, where it was a little bit more running around, and you're only playing twice a week so you've got fresher legs. The transition, the guys are bigger and stronger, too, because they're older, but it wasn't so bad."
Former Fighting Sioux and Hobey Baker Candidate Jason Blake talks about dealing with cancer. Blake's article really puts things in perspective that there is more to life than sports. I personally will be pulling for Blake this season.
Blake has moved past depression, ready for 2008-09
"I spent the first two months of the season after I found out about my condition just banging my head on the pavement and trying to figure out 'Why me?'" he said. "It was just really difficult to comprehend the magnitude of it. I tried my best to move on and played 82 games, but deep down inside it took its toll on me. Physically, I lost 12 pounds in the first month on the medication. I'll be the first to admit I wasn't a great person to deal with and I wasn't always the best teammate over the years.
"Last year there were times where I just hated life and hated everybody, and just kept asking, 'Why me?' I didn't want to go play sometimes and I just didn't have the desire anymore. It's scary when that happens. But I was just questioning a lot about my life and hockey just seemed to take a back seat at times."
