Tweet
Blackhawks don't win 3 Stanley Cups without Keith. Keith's run in the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs was unreal. The second player from that run in the Hall of Fame.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/644...me-blackhawks/
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/644...me-blackhawks/
He could run a power play, yes. He could kill a penalty, yes. He could leverage his wiry, 6-foot-1 frame into surprising physical dominance in front of his own net. But Keith made his bones in a less glamorous part of the ice. If Wayne Gretzky’s office was behind the net, and Alex Ovechkin’s office is the left faceoff circle, then Duncan Keith’s office was between the red line and his own blue line. That’s where he lived. That’s where he lurked. That’s where opposing rushes went to die. That’s where Keith used his quick mind, quick stick and quick feet to prevent breakaways and derail odd-man rushes. Whether he was skating backward in the traditional style or skating alongside his opponents before swinging into them and forcing them to the outside in the style he pioneered — literally changing the way the game is played — Keith killed plays better than perhaps anyone in his generation.
But it was what he could do after that which really separated him from his peers, which made him a two-time Norris Trophy winner, which helped the Blackhawks win three Stanley Cups, which helped Canada win two Olympic gold medals, which made him, officially as of Tuesday afternoon, a first-ballot Hockey Hall of Famer. Keith didn’t just kill the play; he immediately resurrected it. He didn’t just strip the puck; he promptly fired a perfect, hard, flat outlet pass to Patrick Kane, or Jonathan Toews, or Patrick Sharp, or Marián Hossa, or Alex DeBrincat, or any of Chicago’s dangerous forwards over the years. He flipped the ice as quickly as he flipped that switch from lurk to launch. He was the driving force that made the entire Blackhawks machine go.
Kane was the flashy superstar, all skill and excitement. Toews was the ferocious leader, all will and desire. Hossa was the two-way force, Sharp was the marksman, Brent Seabrook was the emotional heartbeat, Niklas Hjalmarsson was the puck-marked warrior, Corey Crawford was the safety net, Andrew Shaw was the fiery id.
But Keith was the engine. Keith made it all happen, made it all go. Indefatigable. Indomitable. Unbreakable. If Toews and Seabrook sometimes had to drag the Blackhawks into the fight, Keith was always there to push them forward. Never was that clearer than during his masterpiece, the 2015 playoff run when he averaged more than 31 minutes per game, with the Blackhawks essentially down to just four playable defensemen. He was a unanimous choice for the Conn Smythe Trophy that spring as playoff MVP. It was the best hockey of his career. It could have been the best hockey of anyone’s career. He was that good.
But it was what he could do after that which really separated him from his peers, which made him a two-time Norris Trophy winner, which helped the Blackhawks win three Stanley Cups, which helped Canada win two Olympic gold medals, which made him, officially as of Tuesday afternoon, a first-ballot Hockey Hall of Famer. Keith didn’t just kill the play; he immediately resurrected it. He didn’t just strip the puck; he promptly fired a perfect, hard, flat outlet pass to Patrick Kane, or Jonathan Toews, or Patrick Sharp, or Marián Hossa, or Alex DeBrincat, or any of Chicago’s dangerous forwards over the years. He flipped the ice as quickly as he flipped that switch from lurk to launch. He was the driving force that made the entire Blackhawks machine go.
Kane was the flashy superstar, all skill and excitement. Toews was the ferocious leader, all will and desire. Hossa was the two-way force, Sharp was the marksman, Brent Seabrook was the emotional heartbeat, Niklas Hjalmarsson was the puck-marked warrior, Corey Crawford was the safety net, Andrew Shaw was the fiery id.
But Keith was the engine. Keith made it all happen, made it all go. Indefatigable. Indomitable. Unbreakable. If Toews and Seabrook sometimes had to drag the Blackhawks into the fight, Keith was always there to push them forward. Never was that clearer than during his masterpiece, the 2015 playoff run when he averaged more than 31 minutes per game, with the Blackhawks essentially down to just four playable defensemen. He was a unanimous choice for the Conn Smythe Trophy that spring as playoff MVP. It was the best hockey of his career. It could have been the best hockey of anyone’s career. He was that good.
Comment