Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane is just full of surprises this summer.
In late July, Kane surprised the opposition when he showed up at a men’s league game in his hometown of Buffalo and simply dominated, tallying five goals and five assists in the lopsided beatdown. On Monday, he was at it again, this time teaming up with Gatorade to make some young hockey players very happy.
Kane made the young kids’ day, as he was on hand to unveil a brand-new locker room for the St. Jude Knights hockey club in Crestwood, Ill. But one of the biggest names in hockey wasn’t fully confident the group that probably worships him would recognize him.
“I was actually nervous,” Kane joked, via CSN Chicago. “I was like, ‘What if I walk in and they don’t even know who I am?’ But when I did walk in, they were pretty excited and probably in shock.”
Kane’s concerns obviously were unfounded, as the youngsters were ecstatic to be in the presence of No. 88, in addition to being pumped about their new locker room, which hadn’t been touched in the last 40 years.
“I think the main thing for me is to come back and see the kids’ faces and see how excited they are,” Kane said. “So it’s a special day for me just to come back and try to help give back any way I can to the kids.
“(The locker room) is a huge part of being a pro athlete. A lot of time and effort goes into the locker room that a lot of people don’t really understand. There’s recovering after games, or getting to know one another as teammates or getting prepped before a game — things like that. To have something like this that’s a pro-caliber locker room for the kids, I think is exciting for them.”
