Patrick Kane very excited about playing in Switzerland

Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane’s contract with EHC Biel of the Swiss National League won’t exactly supplement his income.

Essentially, it covers the costs of the insurance he needs for his lucrative contract with the Hawks and provides a little extra.

“It’s not a crazy amount of money,” Kane said Wednesday after skating at Johnny’s IceHouse West. “It’s about getting in shape and playing games and getting back out there and playing hockey. I’m excited about it.”

For Kane, who has a $6 million salary for the 2012-13 season with the Hawks, that’s really it. Kane has said more than once during the NHL’s lockout that he simply wants to play hockey and that money — although he wants a fair deal for himself and the players’ union — has never really been a serious issue for him.

Kane, the first notable Hawks player to sign overseas during the work stoppage, chose EHC Biel over offers from teams in Sweden and Russia.

“It’s a good league for me,” he said. “It’s a pretty fast league. It’s on big [international] ice. From what I’ve seen, a lot of NHL players have gone over there so I’m excited about it. It will be nice to play some games and try to work on my skills a little bit over there.

“There were a few teams, but this is the one that really came out in the end and really showed their interest in me. I’m really fortunate for that.”

Kane said he nearly signed a week ago, but it was important to him to participate in the Hawks’ “Champs for Charity” game Friday at Allstate Arena before leaving.

“We want to be playing here in Chicago,” Kane said. “We want to be playing for the Blackhawks for sure. Hopefully, the fans know that because that’s deep down where we want to be.”

The Hawks opened their 2009-10 season — their Stanley Cup-winning season — in Switzerland, but Kane said they really didn’t get chance to see much of the country.

What does he know about Switzerland?

“From what I hear, it’s a really nice country. I hear it’s beautiful over there,” Kane said before delivering his joke of the day. “I know it’s a two-hour train ride from Paris so maybe I’ll have some romantic nights down there or something.

“It will be fun, but you’re not going there to see Paris or see beautiful Switzerland, you’re going there to play hockey.”