Back home after five-game road trip out West, Red Wings also see Kane return to practice on Thursday

DETROIT -- Sidelined for almost three weeks with an upper-body injury, Patrick Kane was back practicing as a full participant with the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center on Thursday morning.

Kane, who sustained the injury late in the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 17, has missed the past nine games. When asked about the veteran forward’s status for Friday night’s clash against the New York Rangers at Little Caesars Arena, Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said that’s still to be determined.

“I made contact with him a couple of times about how he felt, and he said that he felt pretty good,” McLellan said about Kane. “I think that’s positive, but that decision will be made tomorrow when we get a little more information.”

Kane is encouraged by the progress he’s made on the ice, especially over the last four to five days, and itching to draw back into the lineup. Across five games this season, the 36-year-old has notched five points on two goals and three assists.

“I was pretty confident that I was going to be able to get in a practice and skate with the team today,” Kane said. “But yeah, you never really know once you get into it, so pretty happy I was able to participate and go the whole way.”

Prior to Thursday’s practice, Kane had been getting himself back up to full speed and strength.

“A lot of skating the past couple weeks, working out and different things like that,” Kane said. “It kind of felt like a couple weeks of summer training, to be honest with you. Get back into action, I think my conditioning will be there and shouldn’t drop off too much.”

And during Thursday’s on-ice session, Kane skated in his usual spot on Detroit’s second line alongside Alex DeBrincat and Marco Kasper.

“He finishes off that line well when they’re playing good,” McLellan said. “Cat, I thought on the trip, had some good looks, good shots and produced offensively. I think there’s more in Marco Kasper. App did an admirable job when he was up there, but [Kane] just finishes that line off and certainly the power play. He’s a guy that a lot of it runs through.”

Kane didn’t travel with the Red Wings for their most recent five-game trek out West, but credited his teammates for finding different ways to win on the road and, as a result, continuing the club’s strong start to the season.

Going into Thursday’s NHL slate, Detroit had the second-best record (9-4-0; 18 points) in the Atlantic Division.

“A lot of focus was people wanting to talk about playoffs and things like that, but in here the focus was more about getting off to a good start and putting ourselves in a good position," Kane said. "I think we got to be happy with where we’re at right now.”

A four-day stretch of fun festivities also kicked off on Thursday morning with the Hockeytown Centennial FanFest at MotorCity Casino Hotel. Single-day passes are still available for the nostalgic event, in addition to tickets for Saturday’s 100 Years of Hockeytown: A Night at the Fox Theatre, here.

“The logo, the jerseys, the 100 years, the Winged Wheel, Hockeytown, the legends that have come through – you can go places, whether it’s a bookstore or online, and find documentaries about the Red Wings,” McLellan said. “That doesn’t happen with a lot of the new teams. They just don’t have the history… Where teams are talking about building new areas or their first arena, we’re four in now. That in itself is remarkable. That’s all part of being around for 100 years and being an Original Six team.”