Duke Keats
Duke Keats | |||
---|---|---|---|
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1958 | |||
Born |
Montreal, Quebec, Canada | March 1, 1895||
Died |
January 16, 1972 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | (aged 76)||
Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
Weight | 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb) | ||
Position | Centre | ||
Shot | Right | ||
Played for |
Chicago Black Hawks | ||
Playing career | 1915–1934 |
Gordon Blanchard "Duke, Iron Duke" Keats (March 1, 1895 – January 16, 1972) was a Canadian professional
Duke Keats was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.
Playing career
Keats was born in
Keats settled in Edmonton, Alberta after the war and joined the Edmonton Eskimos of the Big-4 League in 1919, leading the league in scoring in both 1919–20 and 1920–21. Officially an amateur league, there were rumours that Keats and several other players were secretly being paid a professional salary to play in the Big-4.[6] The team officially turned professional when it helped form the WCHL in 1921 with Keats as the league's greatest star.[2] He played for the Eskimos in all five seasons of the league's existence and was named a First-Team All-Star at centre in each.[1] One of the most gifted offensive players of his time, legend has it that he once collected a puck in his own zone and scored a goal after skating the length of the ice surface backwards.[1][2]
Keats led the Eskimos in scoring in 1921–22, recording 31 goals and 24 assists in 25 games, to lead the Eskimos to the top record in the league and the WCHL final where they lost to the Regina Capitals.[7] The Eskimos again finished with the league's top record in 1922–23, and again faced the Regina Capitals in the final. The Eskimos avenged the previous season as Keats scored the championship winning goal in overtime of the second game.[8] Keats and the Eskimos went on to lose the 1923 Stanley Cup Finals to the Ottawa Senators.[1]
Facing financial ruin, the Eskimos sold the rights to Keats and six other players to the
After three games with Chicago in 1928–29, he left the team and helped organize the Tulsa Oilers of the American Hockey Association (AHA),[2] and was the league's top scorer that season.[1] He played parts of two more seasons in Tulsa before taking a season off in 1931–32.[9] Keats returned to Edmonton in 1932 as a player, coach and owner of a reformed Eskimos team.[12] He played two seasons before retiring as a player.[1] Keats went on to coach several teams in the Canadian prairies and briefly worked for the Black Hawks before settling in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1947, where he worked for the government and served as president of the Victoria Commercial Hockey League.[2] He died on January 16, 1972, and is buried in Royal Oak Burial Park in Victoria.[13]
Keats was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958, and into the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame in 1964.[1]
Playing style
"Keats was a slow skater, but he was a wonderful stickhandler and so big and powerful that you couldn't get at the puck. He'd hold it until his wings were in position and then put it right on the stick of one of them."
– Dick Irvin on Duke Keats' playing style.[14]
Duke Keats, whilst first making his way into the hockey circuit in the Cobalt Mines Hockey League in Northeastern Ontario in the early to mid 1910s, started out his playing career as a defenceman,[15] but he would later switch to forward where he would find himself on the centre ice position.
Outside of his puck-handling skills Keats was also known to have a temper on the ice, which sometimes left him in trouble with league authorities. In a game between Detroit Cougars and Chicago Black Hawks in November 1927, Keats swung his stick against a heckling spectator and almost struck famous ballroom dancer Irene Castle, then wife of Chicago Black Hawks owner Major Frederic McLaughlin.[10] He was suspended following the incident and missed three weeks of play as a result.[11] When Keats was reinstated Frederic McLaughlin traded for him to have him on his Black Hawks team.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season
|
Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1912–13 | Cobalt Mines | CoMHL | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1913–14 | Cobalt Mines | CoMHL | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1913–14 | North Bay Trappers | NOHA | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 6 | — | ||
1914–15 | Haileybury Hawks | TBSHL | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1915–16 | Toronto Blueshirts | NHA | 24 | 22 | 7 | 29 | 112 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1916–17 | Toronto Blueshirts | NHA | 13 | 15 | 3 | 18 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1919–20 | Edmonton Eskimos | Big-4 | 12 | 18 | 14 | 32 | 41 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||
1920–21 | Edmonton Eskimos | Big-4 | 15 | 23 | 6 | 29 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1921–22 | Edmonton Eskimos | WCHL | 25 | 31 | 24 | 55 | 47 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
1922–23 | Edmonton Eskimos | WCHL | 25 | 24 | 13 | 37 | 72 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | ||
1922–23 | Edmonton Eskimos | St-Cup | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
1923–24 | Edmonton Eskimos | WCHL | 29 | 19 | 12 | 31 | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1924–25 | Edmonton Eskimos | WCHL | 28 | 23 | 9 | 32 | 63 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1925–26 | Edmonton Eskimos | WHL | 30 | 20 | 9 | 29 | 134 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | ||
1926–27 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 17 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1926–27 | Detroit Cougars | NHL | 25 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1927–28 | Detroit Cougars | NHL | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1927–28 | Chicago Black Hawks
|
NHL | 32 | 14 | 8 | 22 | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1928–29 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1928–29 | Tulsa Oilers
|
AHA | 39 | 22 | 11 | 33 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
1929–30 | Tulsa Oilers | AHA | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1930–31 | Tulsa Oilers | AHA | 43 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 44 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
1932–33 | Edmonton Eskimos | WCHL | 25 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 146 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | ||
1933–34 | Edmonton Eskimos | NWHL | 25 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
NHA totals | 37 | 37 | 10 | 47 | 166 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
WCHL/WHL totals | 137 | 117 | 67 | 184 | 357 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 34 | ||||
NHL totals | 82 | 30 | 19 | 49 | 113 | — | — | — | — | — |
NHL coaching record
Team | Year | Regular season |
Post season
| |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | L | T | Pts | Division rank | Result | ||
Detroit Cougars | 1926–27 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 28 | 5th in American | Missed playoffs |
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Duke Keats biography". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ^ ISBN 0-385-25999-9.
- ISBN 978-1-77203-268-0.
- ^ MacLeod (2018). From Rinks to Regiments. pp. 108–109.
- ^ a b MacLeod (2018). From Rinks to Regiments. p. 109.
- ISBN 1-894974-01-8.
- ISBN 1-894974-01-8.
- ^ a b "The Eskimos—High priced talent". Edmonton Oilers Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ^ a b c "Duke Keats statistics". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ^ a b "Irene Castle near injury". Reading Eagle. 1927-11-27. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ^ a b "Duke Keats reinstated". Reading Eagle. 1927-12-15. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- Montreal Gazette. 1933-01-10. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ^ MacLeod (2018). From Rinks to Regiments. p. 111.
- ^ a b "The Great Centres" Montreal Gazette. Mar. 10, 1952 (p. 20). Retrieved 2022-06-25.
- ^ "O'BRIEN PLAYERS NOT NEW TO LEAGUE" North Bay Nugget. Jan. 5, 1914 (p. 5). Retrieved 2022-06-25.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database