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***luke*** · 03-12-2024, 06:02 AM

Theo Kane
@Lunaro

The first player to break into the top 5 of all time is one of the greatest all-around players the league has ever seen. The career of Theo Kane had a few stops along the way, but he is mostly known for being a superstar for the Edmonton Blizzard in the late S20 and early S30 seasons. He was part of a very very good draft class in S21, selected 4th overall by the Edmonton Blizzard. Also taken in the top 5 of that draft were Alonzo Garbanzo, Hunter Wong, and Rider Clitsome, who all went on to have Hall of Fame careers. But Kane carved out his own path to excellence, and he was not just a Hall of Fame player, but one of the best there ever was!

Kane joined the Blizzard as a true rookie in S21. The team was undergoing a bit of a rebuild after being dominant in the previous decade, and it didn’t take long for Kane to move up the depth chart. After a respectable showing in his first 2 seasons, he found his way to the top line in S23 and had his first 40-point season. After that the team’s aging roster struggled to collect wins, and Kane’s production plateaued, hovering in the 35-40 point range. By S27 the team was back to its winning ways, and Kane was a big part of that resurgence. He had his first point-per-game season, scoring 50 points. He also displayed his scoring touch with 24 goals which was 3rd best in the league. He was named to the 2nd Team All Stars for his efforts, showing that he had joined the elite of the league.

S28 was the year Kane won his first, and only, Challenge Cup. He was the leading goal scorer for the team in the regular season with 23 goals. His 44 points was a bit of a drop off, but this season he added a physical element as well, for the first time he was a big hitter as well. But it was in the playoffs where he elevated his game to new heights. With 8 goals and 14 assists in just 17 games, Kane was the leader in goals, assists, and points. The Blizzard rolled through the playoffs and captured the Challenge Cup, and Kane was rewarded with the Razov trophy for playoff MVP.

S29 saw Kane have his best season yet, and the season when he first separated himself from the pack and showed he was the top player in the league. With an impressive 31 goals and 36 assists for 67 points, and a whopping 204 hits, Kane led the Blizzard to the top of the division. Kane was all over the leaderboards that season - 1st in goals, 5th in assists, 1st in points (9 points clear of the runner-up). 7th in shots, 5th in hits, 5th in powerplay goals, and 1st in game winning goals. He dominated in all areas, and for his efforts he earned a clean sweep of all the awards. Mexico for MVP, Khan for player-voted MVP, Dar Trophy for Best Two-Way Forward, McDonald for most goals, and Karpotsov for most points. He was named to the 1st Team All Stars as well, capping off an extraordinary season. The only award he didn’t win was the Richan, even though he did receive a nomination.

After this incredible season, Kane’s S30 fell below expectations, only managing to score 16 goals and 40 points. S31 was a little better, back to a ppg pace with 51 points, and a 3rd team All-Star nod, but it was not the levels anyone expected after his incredible run in S29.

Then, in S32, Kane pulled a move reminiscent of Sergei Fedorov, as he switched to play defense! Why was a league MVP all of a sudden pulling a position swap? Nobody knows! But he didn’t fare too badly, with 44 points he was top 7 scoring Dman, and his 36 assists was 8th best in the league overall. Whatever the reason for the switch was, the defense experiment only lasted 1 season, and Kane went back to forward in S33. It might have been the best decision he ever made!

S33 turned out to be Kane’s best season of all! In this season he established career highs in goals (33), assists (39), points (72), and hits (239). He was even more dominant than in S29 as this season he was 1st in goals, 3rd in assists, 1st in points, and 1st in hits. Once again the awards rained down on Kane, and he collected all 5 major trophies again - Mexico, Khan, Dar, McDonald and Karpotsov. There was no doubt he was the best player in the league, the first time any player had twice scored a sweep of the awards. This achievement earned him a place in the all-time record books.

He never really hit those heights again, it was the last time he won any awards and the last season he ever hit a point per game, although he could still put the puck in the net. He had 5 more seasons of being a top 10 goal scorer. He became a journeyman player after S35. The Blizzard were ready to rebuild again, and Kane was moved to Seattle in a quest to earn another Cup. He spent 2 seasons with the Riot, before packing his bags again and heading to Winnipeg, who had just won the Cup in S37. Unfortunately, even though Kane had a 21 goals season, the Jets could not find their way back to the finals.

Kane spent another 5 seasons in the league, with stops in Buffalo and Texas in the dwindling years of his career. S43 was the last year of his career, and he called it quits after 23 seasons. His career statline is impressive, in 1154 games he tallied 436 goals and 471 assists for 907 total points. Not counting his season as a defender, his 410 goals is still top 20 in league history. And with 2 seasons where he was by far the best player in the league, winning all the awards, his accomplishments were enough to make him the 5th greatest player in SHL history.

As we get into the top 10, we are also going to be sharing where they got ranked on everyone’s ballots. For Kane, he had x1 Tier 2(11-25) vote, x2 Top 10(6-10) votes, x2 #4 votes, and x4 #5 votes.

Written by @Muerto

[Image: yAe4trO.png]

dankoa · 03-12-2024, 06:13 AM

referring to a renegades legend as spending the "dwindling years of his career" with the team is unbelievably disrespectful

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