"Keith starred on all three of his championship teams with the Blackhawks, but his performance throughout the 23-game postseason run in 2015 stood apart. He averaged 31:07 of ice time per game during a two-month marathon that included five overtime games. One of them -- Game 2 of the Western Conference Final against the Anaheim Ducks, a 3-2 Chicago victory -- became the longest in franchise history at 116:12, of which Keith played 49:51.
"In that year's playoff opener on the road against the Nashville Predators, Keith scored the winning goal in a 4-3 double-overtime victory after the Blackhawks had fallen behind 3-0 in the first period. Then in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, Keith fired a drive on Ben Bishop, the towering goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bishop shunted it with his pad, but because he is forever in motion, Keith followed his shot, gathered the rebound and deposited the puck into the net, breaking a 0-0 tie. That goal was the winner in a 2-0 victory that brought the Blackhawks their third Stanley Cup championship in six seasons. It was Keith's third goal of that postseason, all of them game-winners.
"'You want to keep being a part of these things, because they never get old,' Keith said upon receiving the Conn Smythe Trophy. 'You don't get awards like this without being on great teams with great players.'"
Harris says he especially enjoys watching defensemen like Keith because of their two-way abilities.
"From Bobby Orr to Denis Potvin, I'm not sure there is a more interesting set of skills than those of a defenseman who can score points and take care of business in his own end," he said. "It's like a football player being both Jim Brown and Dick Butkus. I think Duncan Keith fits that mold."
