Kane joins Hossa, Toews on All-Star roster

Patrick Kane is tied with 21 other players for 109th place among the NHL's leaders in goals with 10.

I guess Kane deserves some credit for being in a five-way tie for 10th in the league in assists with 28. Even still, his 38 points this year are good for only a 23rd-place tie with four others among the league leaders. Those numbers aren't exactly terrible, but for a supposed superstar who offers next to nothing defensively, it's certainly been a disappointing season.

Yet Kane is, somehow, an All-Star. Along with very deserving Blackhawks teammates Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews, Kane was on the list of players selected for the game today. Conspicuously absent are teammates Patrick Sharp, who is admittedly injured, and Duncan Keith. I'd consider both minor snubs.

Their absense is more than made up for by Kane, who will go to Ottawa on name recognition and reputation rather than what he's done this year. He's been just plain bad lately. Kane has gone since Dec. 5 without a multi-point game; has no goals in his last three games, one in his last 10 and three in his last 24. He has a minus-4 rating in his last three games and is a minus-6 since Christmas. Not all that coincidentally, the Blackhawks are 1-4 in their last five games and have picked up just 9 standings points in their last 10.

I certainly haven't lost faith in Kane. Every game I watch, I expect Kane to suddenly bust out with a spin-o-rama goal or a sweet no-look assist and turn that into a scoring tear. It still feels inevitable, but the slump is dragging on way longer than I ever thought it would.

I'm not sure if there is any kind of a dramatic step that should be taken to get Kane going. Coach Joel Quennville has juggled Kane on different lines with the obvious intenton of sparking him, but all he's accomplished is taking Hossa off the top line and away from Toews, which I think is a mistake.

Unlike some, I don't think a benching or a significant slashing of Kane's ice time is a good idea, especially with no Sharp to help shoulder the load. Let Kane play through it and hope it starts clicking again. I hope he's working hard to get on track. Along those lines, hope Kane realizes he isn't playing at an All-Star level, no matter what the voters say.