Keane never scored more than 16 goals in any of his 16 NHL seasons, but the right wing won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens, Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars -- quite a resume for a player who was never drafted.
A Winnipeg native, Keane was signed by the Canadiens on Sept. 25, 1985, following his first season with Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League. He played two more seasons with Moose Jaw and one with Sherbrooke of the American Hockey League before making his NHL debut with the Canadiens on Oct. 6, 1988, earning an assist against the Buffalo Sabres. He scored his first NHL goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 29, 1988.
Keane never scored more than 16 goals in any of his 16 NHL seasons, but the right wing won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens, Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars -- quite a resume for a player who was never drafted.
A Winnipeg native, Keane was signed by the Canadiens on Sept. 25, 1985, following his first season with Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League. He played two more seasons with Moose Jaw and one with Sherbrooke of the American Hockey League before making his NHL debut with the Canadiens on Oct. 6, 1988, earning an assist against the Buffalo Sabres. He scored his first NHL goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 29, 1988.
Keane finished his rookie season with 16 goals, an NHL career-high, but his best offensive season came in 1992-93, when he had a career-high 60 points (15 goals, 45 assists) and plus-29 rating in 77 regular-season games. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs that season, Keane had 15 points (two goals, 13 assists) in 19 games to help Montreal win the Stanley Cup.
He was named captain of the Canadiens in April 1995 after Kirk Muller was traded to the New York Islanders, but found himself on the move not long after that. On Dec. 6, 1995, Montreal traded him, along with goalie and Hockey Hall of Famer Patrick Roy, to the Avalanche, who they helped win the Cup the following spring.
Keane played one more season with Colorado before signing with the New York Rangers as a free agent on July 30, 1997. However, he lasted less than a season in New York and was traded to the Stars on March 24, 1998.
In Dallas, Keane became a three-time Stanley Cup champion when he helped the Stars defeat the Buffalo Sabres in the 1999 Cup Final, their first championship since entering the NHL as the Minnesota North Stars in 1967.
After two more seasons with Dallas, Keane signed with the St. Louis Blues on July 27, 2001, and returned to Colorado via trade on Feb. 11, 2002. He remained with the Avalanche through the 2002-03 season before moving on to the Vancouver Canucks the following season.
Keane was 38 years old and without a contract when the NHL resumed play after the lockout in 2004-05, but he wasn't ready to hang up his skates. Instead, he went home and joined Manitoba of the American Hockey League, where he was named captain and played five seasons before retiring after the 2009-10 season.
Keane finished his NHL career with 470 points (168 goals, 302 assists) in 1,161 regular-season games, and 74 points (34 goals, 40 assists) in 220 playoff games. Manitoba retired No. 12 in his honor in 2011.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award (AHL - Sportsmanship) (2007)
- Signed as a free agent by Montreal, September 25, 1985.
- Traded to Colorado by Montreal with Patrick Roy for Andrei Kovalenko, Martin Rucinsky and Jocelyn Thibault, December 6, 1995.
- Signed as a free agent by NY Rangers, July 30, 1997.
- Traded to Dallas by NY Rangers with Brian Skrudland and NY Rangers' 6th round pick (Pavel Patera) in 1998 NHL Draft for Todd Harvey, Bob Errey and Dallas' 4th round pick (Boyd Kane) in 1998 NHL Draft, March 24, 1998.
- Signed as a free agent by St. Louis, July 10, 2001.
- Traded to Colorado by St. Louis for Shjon Podein, February 11, 2002.
- Signed as a free agent by Vancouver, October 10, 2003.