Chicago Blackhawks: Celebrating the greatness of Duncan Keith
The Chicago Blackhawks are celebrating Duncan Keith on his birthday today.
Today is Duncan Keith‘s birthday! It is surprising that he is already 37 years old. The Chicago Blackhawks drafted him in the second round (54th overall) in the 2002 NHL Draft. It has been a great ride for Keith up to this point as there were many years where he was the best defenseman in the NHL. He is going to walk into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot because of all of his accomplishments.
He started his career off with the Hawks when they weren’t very good. He was one of the key pieces that they built around to become a team that would win the Stanley Cup three times in a span of six seasons. He was a key piece to all three teams as the clear cut number one defenseman.
Keith’s impact was mostly felt during the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was the year that they captured their third cup in six seasons and Keith was the best player on the Chicago roster by far. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy that year as the most valuable player in the playoffs because he had such an impact on the Cup Champion Blackhawks. It was one of the best postseason runs in the history of the NHL by a defenseman.
In addition to all of the team success he has been a part of, he has had plenty of individual success to go with his Conn Smythe Trophy. He has won the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman in the NHL twice. He won it in 2010 and 2014 after outstanding campaigns that year. It was a great stretch of time where he was one of the very best in the world.
Keith is also probably going to go down as the greatest defenseman in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks. In the NHL’s centennial season, the league named Keith as one of the 100 greatest players of all time. It is awesome that a defenseman like this was able to play for the Hawks in a time where kids like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were also there.
The Blackhawks vs Blues game should be a nice boost. light. Hot
When Keith is retired, he will be honored by the Hawks in many ways. His number two will certainly be retired and you can even make the claim that there will be a statue one day. The statue might be a stretch but you never know. All of this will be ahead of his Hall of Fame induction. It has been a great career and deserves to be celebrated on his birthday.