Blackhawks' Patrick Kane to captain Team USA in the world championships for 2nd straight year

After the Blackhawks season ended, Patrick Kane said he needed a little time to decide if he wanted to play for the U.S. national team in this year’s world championships.

He has made up his mind. Kane was named captain Monday for the second straight year and will try to lead Team USA to its first gold medal. The tournament will be played May 10-16 in Slovakia.

Kane was named tournament MVP last year while helping Team USA win the bronze medal. This will be the third time he has participated in the world championships. Not coincidentally, the previous two were the only other seasons during his career that the Hawks missed the postseason.

Kane had a career-high 110 points this season, including 44 goals.

Alex DeBrincat is expected to be named to the U.S. roster later this week, and Brandon Saad and Connor Murphy could join him. DeBrincat and Murphy were on last year’s team.

“It was a really fun tournament for me to play with some good players and even have more of a leadership role as well with that team,” Kane said last week after the Hawks season ended. “It was a young team and a lot of fun playing there (in Denmark) too.

“And then you’re also representing your country, playing for the USA. So that was exciting too. USA’s never won that tournament, so it’d be fun to be part of the first team that did.”

Kane also played for Team USA in the Olympics in 2010 and 2014.

jgreenfield@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @jcgreenx

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