Point Streak Puts Patrick Kane Past Sidney Crosby as NHL's Most Exciting Player

At a time when the NHL’s top-billing superstar is struggling, another has forced his way onto that marquee.

Like it or not, hockey world, the Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane has passed Sidney Crosby as the face of the league, even if he’s not necessarily the game’s best ambassador. Kane extended his incredible point streak to 25 games Friday night, tying him with Crosby as the holder of the longest such streak of any active player. He can pass the Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sunday.

But he’s already overtaken Crosby as the NHL’s most thrilling player. Kane's 45 points through the first 30 games put him on a pace for 123. Crosby’s best total in his 11-year career was 120, and since that season lost entirely to a lockout in 2004, Joe Thornton has topped out the upper end at 125.

You can argue all you want about who the league’s most well-rounded or best overall player is, but it’s the offensive flash that appeals to the masses, and Kane has that locked down this year.

Kane has that rare perfect combination of speed, stick-handling and the brain for the game that seems to slow everything down around him. He can pass the puck inches off the ice to a teammate's waiting stick without even looking that way, pick any corner of the net with a quick release or stick-handle his way out of trouble to give others a chance to catch up to him. He's small at 5'11" and 177 pounds, but he rarely takes a big hit because of his intelligence and positioning. 

All this leads to his tremendous pace atop the points battle this season. The 120s and higher are rare totals not seen since the Wayne Gretzky era of the game, when goaltenders were much shorter, wore less padding and were more prone to stuffing a hot dog down their throats between periods than taking part in a full-season training program.

Even Gretzky is talking about Kane’s current streak at the moment.

GAMES	GOALS	ASSISTS	POINTS
25	16	23	39

Although The Great One’s record NHL point streak of 51 is more than double than Kane’s right now, he is impressed by the numbers given the modern-day rules and developments in the league.

“The goaltenders in general are better today, the defense is better today, the players are bigger and stronger, so what he's doing he should be proud of,” Gretzky told Mike Battaglino of NHL.com.

"If Patrick can keep this going, good for him. It's great for hockey. And if he gets to 50, 51, I'll be the first guy to go to the game."

Not everything Patrick Kane has done has been good for the game.

This past summer, he faced extremely serious allegations. He was eventually cleared, but that wasn't the first time in his career that he received negative attention from the press.

While amassing 602 points in 608 regular-season NHL contests on the ice, trouble has followed the 27-year-old off it.

A 2009 incident with a cab driver was the first time his name was in the headlines for the wrong reasons as a pro, and that's been followed by a slew of embarrassing pictures over the years that showed Kane’s lack of maturity and common sense necessary for someone of his celebrity.

That’s something the whistle-clean Crosby always seemed to understand.

While Crosby was something of a mild-mannered superhero as the NHL’s poster boy, Kane is more bad-boy vigilante.

So while some may cringe a bit at the idea Kane is drawing raves across the country, continent and globe for his accomplishments, there’s no doubting now that the torch has been passed from Superman to Batman here.

Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

With 19 points in 28 games, Crosby barely cracks the top 80 on the league’s current scoring list. Kane has some competition for the scoring title, but has established himself as the early Hart Trophy front-runner while helping his Blackhawks remain competitive in spite of major roster changes.

It’s not an out-of-the-blue event, either. Kane topped the NHL scoring race last year before a shoulder injury knocked him out with about 20 games remaining in the regular season. His points-per-game average was still fourth best. He was a point-per-game player the previous campaign, too—another year that was shortened by injury.

During the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, Kane’s 55 points in 47 games was the fourth-best point-per-game mark.

The takeover has been gradual, but the signs have been there for years.

Kane’s current point streak may end before he gets into the 30s, never mind near Gretzky’s unfathomable record, but chances are good he’ll get the best of Crosby.

Even if he doesn’t and they share double billing on the active player streak until one of them retires, the positive attention he’s received has boosted his profile into that Crosby category.

Deservedly so—Kane is as exciting as it gets on the ice. And bad boys are "in" these days.