Patrick Kane: Qualifying round will be like March Madness

Put Chicago Blackhawks superstar Patrick Kane in the same boat as thousands of hockey-starved fans eager to watch a constant flow of playoff games beginning in early August.

"It'll be similar to those March Madness tournaments when you can watch college basketball all day and that's pretty much all you do, except this time it'll be hockey, so it'll be fun for me to watch," Kane told NHL.com's Tracey Myers.

"It looks like it's going to be an amazing schedule if you're a hockey fan," he continued. "It looks like you'll be able to watch like six games a day, if I'm correct. You'll be able to watch hockey all day. Pretty much every couple of hours it seems a new game is on. I think it's cool."

The NHL's jam-packed qualifying-round schedule begins Aug. 1. Kane's 12th-seeded Blackhawks are slated to play the fifth-seeded Edmonton Oilers in a best-of-five series, with the winner advancing to the traditional 16-team Stanley Cup Playoffs bracket.

Between the eight qualifying-round series and the round-robin matches pitting the top-four seeds against each other in both conferences, there could be up to 52 high-stakes games played over a nine-day period, and Kane will be dialed in when he's not on the ice.

"One of the best things about the playoffs is when you're hanging in the lounge with the guys, you're watching hockey games, flipping back and forth, seeing what games are close and what games are in overtime," Kane said.

Kane led the Blackhawks this season with 84 points, and he's one of the most accomplished playoff performers of his generation. The 31-year-old has racked up 123 points in 127 career postseason games - including 11 game-winning goals - while capturing three Stanley Cups and a Conn Smythe Trophy.

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