Chicago Sports Memories: Duncan Keith

Showing posts with label Duncan Keith. Show all posts

Thursday, July 15, 2021

Duncan Keith

Duncan Keith, who was traded to the Edmonton Oilers this week, is ranked by Hockey-Reference.com as the sixth greatest Blackhawk of all time, after Tony Esposito, Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Patrick Kane, and Glenn Hall. Keith is first among defensemen, ahead of Hall of Famers Doug Wilson and Pierre Pilote and his perennial backline partner Brent Seabrook.

DUNCAN KEITH

Keith played 16 years in a Blackhawk sweater and ranks second, after Mikita, in games played for the franchise (Seabrook is third).

In addition to winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013, and 2015, Keith won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman in 2010 and 2014 and the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2015. He was an Olympic gold medalist for Canada in 2010 and 2014, and he was named among the 100 greatest NHL players of all time in 2017. It seems certain that sweater number 2 will never be worn again by a Blackhawk—except when Keith himself wears it on the night it is retired.

Although Keith seemed to grow tired of hearing about it and talking about it over the years, an incident from Game 4 of the Western Conference Final in 2010 showed us all we needed to know about his toughness and heart. Keith dropped to one knee trying to block a shot—and succeeded, catching the puck square in the mouth.

"They [his teammates] didn't say much when I came off," said Keith, "because they didn't want to scare me about the way it looked. No stitches. Just stuck a bunch of needles in there and froze it all up." Minus seven teeth, Keith returned to the ice just in time to assist on the game-tying goal with barely a minute remaining in the second period. The Hawks scored two unanswered goals in the third period to complete a sweep over the San Jose Sharks and qualify for their first Stanley Cup Final since 1992.

"It's just missing teeth," Keith said through his ravaged mouth after the game. "It's a long way from the heart."

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Worth a Thousand Words: Patrick Kane

Patrick Kane played his 1,000th game for the Blackhawks last night, joining an exclusive club that already included Stan Mikita, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Bobby Hull, Eric Nesterenko, and Bob Murray. It was another in a series of milestones for Kane, who racked up his 1,000th point on January 20, 2020, and his 400th goal ten days ago, on February 28. At the relatively tender age of 32, he ranks fourth in franchise history in goals, third in assists, and fourth in points.

ONE OF PATRICK KANE'S MANY SENSATIONAL GOALS.

It would be hard to exaggerate Kane's importance to the franchise since he was selected first overall in the 2007 draft. In 2010 he scored the goal that gave the Hawks their first Stanley Cup in 49 years. He was also a key contributor, to say the least, when the Hawks captured the Cup again in 2013 and 2015. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 2013.

Kane's trophy case includes the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 2008 and a raft of awards in 2016--the Art Ross Trophy as leading scorer, the Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player (voted by journalists), and the Ted Lindsay Award as player of the year (voted by his peers). He was also named a first-team All-Star in 2010, 2016, and 2017. He will certainly be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

In 2010, Kane was on the U.S. Olympic team that settled for a silver medal after losing the gold-medal game to the Canadian team that featured his friends and Hawks teammates Keith, Seabrook, and Jonathan Toews. He was the first American-born player to win the Hart or Ross trophy, and he is likely to retire--when the time comes--as the greatest American player of all time.

This year, with Toews out of commission, Kane has taken on a more active and vocal leadership role while continuing to play with the energy, enthusiasm, and uncanny skill he has brought into each of his 1,000 regular-season and 136 playoff games.

"As my 1,000th game approaches," Kane said this week in a recorded message to Hawks fans, "I can't help but think of you guys. These great moments are meant to be shared with friends, family, and obviously you great fans.

"I've dreamed of sharing this moment with you, so that's what we're going to do. When it's safe to pack the United Center with all 21,000-plus of the best fans in sports, we'll share that moment together."

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Blackhawks By the Numbers

The Blackhawks are one of the the NHL's legendary "Original Six" franchises, are in their 95th season of play, and have enjoyed a recent run in which they won the Stanley Cup three times in six years--equaling the number of times they captured the Cup in the previous 83 seasons.

For no particular reason, we thought it would be fun to name the greatest Blackhawks by sweater number, so here goes. (Asterisks indicate retired numbers.)

No player ever wore No. 35 for the Blackhawks before Tony Esposito, and no one has ever worn it after him. Likewise, Patrick Kane is the first and last Hawk player who will ever wear No. 88. It also seems likely that numbers 2, 19, 50, and 81 have each been worn by the last player who will ever do so.

Please note that there are many numbers beyond 45 that have never been worn by a Blackhawk or have been worn by very few players, none of whom made much of an impact. Those numbers are not represented below.

THE FIRST NUMBER RETIRED BY THE BLACKHAWKS.

1. * Glenn Hall, G, 1958 - 1967

2. Duncan Keith, D, 2005 - present

3. * Pierre Pilote, D, 1955 - 1968

4. Keith Brown, D, 1979 - 1993

5. Phil Russell, D, 1972 - 1979

6. Bob Murray, D, 1975 - 1990

7. Brent Seabrook, D, 2005 - 2020

8. Bill Mosienko, RW, 1941 - 1951

9. * Bobby Hull, LW, 1957 - 1972

10. Patrick Sharp, LW, 2005 - 2018

11. Doug Mohns, LW/D, 1964 - 1971

12. Pat "Whitey" Stapleton, D, 1965 - 1973

13. Alex Zhamnov, C, 1996 - 2004

14. Doug Bentley, LW, 1939 - 1952

15. Eric Nesterenko, RW, 1956 - 1972

16. Chico Maki, RW, 1961 - 1976

17. Ken Wharram, RW/C, 1951 - 1969

18. * Denis Savard, C, 1980 - 1990, 1994 - 1997

19. Jonathan Toews, C, 2007 - present

20. Doug Jarrett, D, 1964 - 1975

21. * Stan Mikita, C, 1958 - 1980

22. Grant Mulvey, RW, 1974 - 1983

23. Behn Wilson, D, 1983 - 1988

24. Doug Wilson, D, 1977 - 1991

25. Cam Barker, D, 2005 - 2010

26. Steve Sullivan, RW, 1999 - 2004

27. Jeremy Roenick, C, 1989 - 1996

28. Steve Larmer, RW, 1981 - 1993

29. Bryan Bickell, LW, 2007 - 2016

30. Ed Belfour, G, 1988 - 1997

31. Antti Niemi, G, 2009 - 2010

32. Kris Versteeg, RW, 2007 - 2010, 2013 - 2015

33. Dirk Graham, RW, 1987 - 1995

34. Tony Horacek, LW, 1992 - 1995

35. * Tony Esposito, G, 1969 - 1984

36. Dave Bolland, C, 2007 - 2013

37. Adam Burish, RW, 2006 - 2010

38. Cristobal Huet, G, 2008 - 2010

39. Nikolai Khabibulin, G, 2005 - 2009, 2013

40. Darren Pang, G, 1985, 1987 - 1989

41. Jocelyn Thibault, G, 1998 - 2004

42. Jon Klemm, D, 2001 - 2003

43. James Wisniewski, D, 2005 - 2009

44. Patrick Poulin, C, 1993 - 1996

46. Colin Fraser, C, 2008 - 2010

50. Corey Crawford, G, 2006 - 2020

51. Brian Campbell, D, 2008 - 2011, 2016 - 2017

52. Dustin Byfuglien, D, 2005 - 2010

55. Eric Daze, RW, 1995 - 2005

56. Erik Gustafsson, D, 2015 - 2020

57. Trevor van Riemsdyk, D, 2014 - 2017

60. Collin Delia, G, 2018 - present

65. Andrew Shaw, C, 2011 - 2016, 2019 - present

72. Artemi Panarin, LW, 2015 - 2017

77. Kirby Dach, C, 2019 - present

81. Marian Hossa, RW, 2009 - 2017

82. Tomas Kopecky, C, 2009 - 2011

86. Tuevo Teravainen, C, 2014 - 2016

88. Patrick Kane, RW, 2007 - present

92. Bernie Nichols, C, 1994 - 1996

93. Doug Gilmour, C, 1998 - 2000

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.

Monday, August 10, 2020

Chicago Blackhawks Trophy Case

No member of the Blackhawks ever won the Conn Smythe Trophy, emblematic of the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs, during its first 45 years of existence. The award was introduced in 1965, four years after the Hawks' last Stanley Cup championship prior to 2010. Now there are three recent Stanley Cups in the Hawks' trophy case, and (not coincidentally) three Conn Smythes as well.

Below is a recap of the honors the Blackhawks have won over the years. Stay tuned for a future post in which we review those enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Blackhawks retired numbers:

1 - Glenn Hall

3 - Keith Magnuson

3 - Pierre Pilote

9 - Bobby Hull

18 - Denis Savard

21 - Stan Mikita

35 - Tony Esposito

Stanley Cup champion head coaches:

1934 - Tommy Gorman

1938 - Bill Stewart

1961 - Rudy Pilous