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Patrick Kane was as baffled as the NHL goalies who try to stop him in a shootout.

When he spoke with Knights GM Mark Hunter last year, there was little mention of the 2006-07 season in London that started the Blackhawks winger on the path to hockey superstardom.

“The way the conversation was going, I thought he just wanted to catch up,” said Kane, 31, a three-time Stanley Cup champ. “We talked hockey for 15 minutes. I was getting ready to hang up the phone and that’s when he said he had one more thing to tell me and that it was the main reason he wanted to talk.”

Hunter and his head coach brother, Dale, decided to raise Kane’s No. 88 jersey to the Budweiser Gardens rafters, believing his one, memorable 145-point campaign — and ensuing success — warranted him becoming the ninth player to receive the club’s top honour.

The Buffalo, N.Y., native will be at the rink Friday, with about 30 relatives and friends, to celebrate before the Knights take on the Sudbury Wolves Friday at 7:30 p.m.

“There are moments in my career where you get chills coming down your spine when you do something special or something special happens,” the future Hockey Hall of Famer said. “That was one of those moments . . . That phone call was pretty special. He just kind of brought it up casually at the end like it was nothing. I only played there one year, so I didn’t know if I really expected anything like a jersey retirement or anything like that.

“I thought that was pretty cool.”