Last night Patrick Kane, the Chicago Blackhawks superstar and mayor of Dangle City, scored a filthy goal.  After turning Colorado Avalanche defenseman Jan Hejda into a pylon, Kaner went bar down, top shelf on Semyon Varlomov.

There’s no questioning Patrick Kane’s skill, but his success on the ice isn’t by accident.  His most recent highlight reel goal illustrates a couple of key hockey concepts to create quality offensive chances.  First, Kane catches the cross-ice pass with speed behind the puck.  Instead of being ahead of the pass and having to slow down, he’s able to create speed and momentum by positioning himself below the imaginary horizontal line of where the puck is.  After catching the pass on his backhand in full stride, he’s able to walk the puck to the middle to draw the defenseman in.  Using his world class stickhandling ability, Kane baits Hejda to swing his stick at the puck and when he does, Patty quickly slides the puck under his stick in the opposite direction of the defenseman’s momentum.  This allows him to drive wide, protect the puck and create a path to the net where he effortlessly puts the puck off the cross bar and in with a nice backhand shot.  Wow, what a goal!

Patrick Kane is an unbelievably talented hockey player, but it’s important to note that he works on these specific skills and concepts regularly with his skill development coach Daryl Belfry.  Success in hockey, as in anything, takes practice and hard work.  When it all comes together, as it did for Kane last night, it’s a beautiful thing!