Patrick Kane is already in midseason form in the stitches-to-the-lip department.

The Blackhawks forward hopes his time spent in Switzerland – despite the elbow to the face he absorbed in his final game with HC Biel – will mean his skills will be at a similarly high level when the Blackhawks’ lockout-shortened NHL season kicks off Jan. 19 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

“It’s going to be big for me,” Kane said Thursday after an informal practice with teammates at Johnny’s IceHouse West in Chicago. “Before I came back, I played eight games in 10 days or something like that – at one point it was five in 5 nights. It was really good for my conditioning and skating.