The Greatest Assist (Patrick Kane)

46| Cliché

Patrick

Since winning Chicago's first Stanley cup in 49 years I have been getting a lot of media attention. Some of it hasn't been good thanks to my awful ideas of what having a good time is. But before all that started the media presence was always about hockey, the one thing I have always been sure about.

So when I get a request for a interview about the cup and going into this post season, I naturally accept it. The only thing I'm good at talking about is hockey so I might as well do that. Make a few extra bucks and keep working at making a name for myself that I can be proud of.

Chelsea sets up the interview with ESPN about the Blackhawks, the city of Chicago, and hockey in general. We meet up at the United Center and I shake hands with the man conducting the interview. His name is Jesse and I've met him a few times, including on the ice after we won. He did a lot of the hockey coverage from the Stanley cups and the Olympics so he was as good as they come when it comes to hockey.

"Thank you for meeting me" he says as we sit down in one of the offices in the building.

"Thanks for having me" I smile.

"We can just jump right on in.

Take me to the exact moment when you knew that you just scored the most important goal in blackhawks history" he questions and I laugh.

"You mean when I was the only person that knew" I tease.

"Exactly" he chuckles.

"It was kind of a crazy moment. You sit at home when you're a little kid, just learning how to hold a hockey stick correctly. And as you see that puck on your stick you imagine yourself shooting that goal. You dream of that moment when the game is right on your blade and you shoot and you score.

And of course I score and I was the only one who realized it. I think there was a few other guys out there who knew that the puck was in but was in denial or didn't want to believe it. But I knew where the puck was because it was right where I wanted it to go" I explain.

"You still think about that moment" he wonders.

"From time to time, yeah. But it's one of those things where I get endless opportunities to win games like that. With the next post season coming up it's not about what I have done but what I'm going to do. I'm not planning on being a one and done, I'm just 22 years old. I have a long ways to go to become the player I always thought I would be. I never put limits on myself because if I do things right I can play for a very long time. I can be to this city what Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen was. But those guys didn't become Gods from winning once and calling it quits. They were consistent and competed every day to the best of their abilities and that is what I'm trying to do too" I say.

"It hasn't always been easy for you, this last year especially with the off ice problems and being involved in a scary accident with a close friend late last year. How have you gotten through that and back on the right track" he questions.

I just smile to myself as I look down at my hands. "I don't want to be cliche or anything, but it's because of a girl" I admit.

"A girl" he smiles.

"Yeah. A lot of people know about her family, her dad is a award winning professor at UCLA and her mom saves lives on the daily doing neurosurgery. Her oldest brother is the mayor of LA and her other brother a police officer. Her sister is a well decorated war hero and somehow she got this idea that changing the world was going to be possible by changing my life.

And in a way she was more than right. She's changed my whole world and it has changed the lives of everyone around me. I'm a better person now that she's around and she doesn't even realize just how much she has effected me and my life.

She hates it when I talk about her but it's hard not to sometimes. Everything I do can be traced back to what she's taught me or what she does for me. She's not just my personal assistant, she's my everything and I am so thankful that given the chance to affect a hundred people or change one persons life she chose me. She saw something in me that is more than that goal I scored. She saw everything that happened after it and wanted to help me be better, not just act like I'm better.

She could have stayed in LA and done PR, she could have done so much more with her degrees and experience. But she's stuck with me now and I couldn't be more thankful that she is" I smile.

"Is she your girlfriend" he wonders.

I just shake my head as I let a sigh. "No, she's not. But she is someone I love very much and someone I can't live without. That's why I jumped into the water to try and save her, that's why I couldn't leave that hospital until I knew she was going to be okay. It's not very often you find someone that connects in the way that her and I did. That cares and actually acts on their intentions despite what people keep saying. When we met people did not want to see me as who I really was. They read the papers and I know what they were saying wasn't good. And in a way they have a right to feel that way about me. But they didn't know me, why I drank or why I didn't seem to care what happened to me. No one was more hurt by my actions than myself, she was the only person who thought about it that way and helped me get better. All while she fighting demons herself.

She's the strongest and wisest person I know. I hope we stay friends forever" I admit.

"Well we're happy that you're still here, this game is a better one with you with us. We wish nothing but the best to you and your lady friend" he claims and I laugh.

"Thanks. I'll need all the luck I can get once she reads this and sees I talked about her the whole time" I laugh.

"Best of luck to you" he teases.