Patrick Kane's broken collarbone is healing just fine, thank you, and the Blackhawks star is itching to get back into action.
Too bad for him and them, recovery from surgery on Kane's left shoulder will take until late May. The rest of the 2014-15 NHL season and the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs will be over before Kane is expected to return.
"The timetable is still the same," Kane told NHL.com on Sunday. "Whatever the doctor said, we're still on that pace. For me right now, I'm just trying to work as hard as I can to get as healthy as possible. Whatever the doctors say and whatever they tell me, I'm ready. I'll be ready to play."
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Surgery was four days after that fateful game on Feb. 24, when Kane was crosschecked by Panthers defenseman Alex Petrovic. Kane hit the boards hard and knew right away something was wrong.
Then, things got worse.
"I was just kind of thinking, 'Hopefully, they tell me it’s not as bad as I think' and hoping for the best news possible," Kane told the Chicago Tribune as his teammates skated on Sunday. "I kind of knew it was bad right away and once the doctors looked at it and they got the X-ray, they confirmed that."
So Sunday night, the Blackhawks played host to the Rangers in a game that screamed Stanley Cup finals preview. With similar records, the teams readied for a 7:30 p.m. ET game that should tell plenty as they head into the final month of the regular season.
The Rangers have 85 points; the 'Hawks, 83. The Blueshirts entered the game fourth in the Eastern Conference and second in the Metropolitan Division. The 'Hawks were fourth in the West and third in the Central Division.
This will be the second consecutive year that Kane eyed the playoffs after injury. He missed last season's final 12 games with a knee injury. This season, it will be 21 games off, plus playoff games — if the Blackhawks are still alive when Kane is ready.
Kane wants to play. Now.
“Yeah, I wish I could play tonight,” Kane told the Chicago Sun-Times. “That’d be awesome. But it’s one of those things, you’ve got to be patient with it. You’ve got to listen to the doctors and make sure you’re not putting yourself in a position to re-injure it and make it even worse down the line. Do whatever you can to get it as healthy as possible and make sure the bone’s healed before I completely come back.”
Of course the Blackhawks miss Kane, who was the NHL's leading scorer when he was injured. But they are 3-1 in games without him, and they are counting on trade deadline pickups Antoine Vermette, Kimmo Timonen and Andrew Desjardins to help them down the stretch.
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“If we have some good results in playoffs maybe you can say this was a blessing in disguise because of the moves we were allowed to make,” Kane told CSN Chicago.
When Kane is able, look out.
"I’ll try to do the best I can to get as ready as I can for playoffs and be ready to go when I come back,” Kane said.
That should be warning enough from a guy aching to play.