Red Wings' Patrick Kane Names 'Cherry On Top' Goal Before 2025-26 Season

Patrick Kane’s Olympic Past and Present

Kane, 36, has already represented Team USA in Vancouver (2010) and Sochi (2014), as well as appeared in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. His only medal with the USA, however, is a silver one from the 2010 Olympics when the U.S. fell to hosts Canada in overtime of the gold-medal game.

Kane will represent the Red Wings once again in the NHL next season after signing a one-year, $3 million deal with Detroit this summer, after joining the team for the first time two seasons ago, having also played for the New York Rangers (after a trade-deadline deal) before.

About to enter his 19th NHL season, Kane said this Olympic cycle feels different because it will almost certainly be his final chance. One thing is clear in Kane's mind, and that's making the roster on merit, not past accolades.

“I don’t want that to be a thing, either, where you’re getting selected for the team because of all that stuff,” Kane said. “You want to be selected for the player you are and what you can bring to the team.

“If you’re playing well and somebody else is playing well, and they take somebody else, well, you know, so be it.”

What Patrick Kane Still Can Accomplish

Kane admitted that recent years have highlighted both the urgency and the difficulty of making the U.S. roster. He was left off February’s Four Nations Face-Off, a decision he said was painful but understandable given his slow return from hip surgery.

“I didn’t really expect to make it just the way I was playing, with how many good American players there are,” Kane said.

With the Milan Olympics now less than six months away, Kane still has many goals serving as motivation to put on his best effort to join Team USA at the 2026 tournament:

• Olympic gold remains the missing piece. Kane called winning in a best-on-best tournament the “cherry on top” of his career.
• Final opportunity at age 37. Kane turns 37 in November and knows this will be his last shot at an Olympic gold.
• Milestones within reach. Kane is eight goals from 500 and just 32 points away from surpassing Mike Modano as the second-highest scoring American player.
• Team USA momentum. The U.S. recently won gold at the 2024 World Championship, its first since 1933, and finished runner-up to Canada in February's Four Nations Face-Off, raising expectations heading into Milan.

“Hopefully I get off to a good start this season, and that would really be a cherry on top,” Kane said.

Why 2026 Olympics Matter for Patrick Kane and Team USA

The United States has not won Olympic men’s hockey gold since the Miracle on Ice in 1980, and Kane’s generation has carried the burden of a steady string of near-misses.

The NHL’s return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014 heightens the stakes for veterans and young stars alike, with the U.S. and Canada in the spotlight as the two dominating nations in world hockey.

Kane said he remembers past orientation camps ahead of the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, where the message then was the same as the one echoed now: gold is the only goal.

“I’ve been to orientation camps in 2010 and 2014, and it was the same message,” Kane said. “Everyone brings up the 1980 team and how long ago it was. That’s all it is for expectations: gold and trying to get over the hump of Canada.”