Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin had on ice chemistry unlike any duo in Blackhawks history, but it all came to an end last Friday. Panarin was packaged up in a deal sending him to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Brandon Saad, leaving Kane without his partner.
For two seasons the duo fed each other passes, like two lovers sharing grapes at a picnic, leading to the success of both. Panarin scored 70 plus points in each of the first two seasons and Kane benefited by winning the Hart and Art Ross trophy in 2016 with 106 points. Kane followed that up with 89 points last season.
When the trade was announced, memes rolled across social media poking fun of Kane and how he may have been feeling. It was funny but there may be more truth to those reactions than we all thought.
Tracey Myers of CSN Chicago, reported that Kane saw Panarin’s agent at the draft on Friday night and gave him a message for Artemi.
“just let [Panarin] know that I love him.”
It doesn’t get more sincere than that. Those are the three words every person longs for in a relationship and Kane had no problem putting it out there. Patrick Kane will still be the superstar he already is, but after hearing this we can’t help but wonder if he’s more upset as a hockey player or a person.
Panarin sent a thank you to Chicago and the Blackhawks this morning via Twitter but made no mention of Kane. I hope he sent a message back to Kane and didn’t pull a Han Solo with a reply of “I know.”
Follow @Pappy_Hour on Twitter for more Blackhawks news and musings.
These two are too much. TOO MUCH.#FriendshipGoalsAndHockeyGoals pic.twitter.com/wv9ht1yWOp
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 11, 2017
