Duncan Keith is one of the better defensemen in the NHL. It's no mistake that the Chicago Blackhawks blueliner has performed as part of a Hawks team that's now won three of the last six Stanley Cup championships, and looks well on its way to potentially securing its fourth. Keith, tough, hard-nosed and willing to do whatever it takes to win, is usually the kind of guy that parents of young players can point to and say, "see, that's how you play the game the right way."
Every so often though, Keith's gritty play blurs the line between grit and underhandedness.
Take the Blackhawks' Tuesday night Central Division bout against the Minnesota Wild for example. Keith, dumped on his butt by Wild forward Charlie Coyle, reacted in a manner that was both unseemly and vicious.
Coyle obviously landed Keith on his backside in a questionable manner, catching his stick behind Keith's legs and then bowling him over backward by shoving him in the chest. But Keith's response was far, far out of line with acceptable behavior, on or off the ice.
Keith, unsurprisingly, was assessed a match penalty for intent to injure and is now suspended indefinitely, pending the league's ruling, while Coyle was left with a gash on the bridge of his nose and blood running down his face.
The Wild would go on to win the game, 4-1, which wasn't altogether unexpected considering not only were the Blackhawks missing Keith for most of the contest - they were also without Brent Seabrook, who missed the game due to illness.
The most troubling aspect of this for Keith is that it isn't the first time he's taken his frustrations out on another NHL player by swinging his stick in an intentional manner. Keith slashed Los Angeles Kings forward Jeff Carter in the face during the 2013 NHL playoffs.
Keith was suspended for only a single game - Game 4 of that Western Conference Final series - but it's likely that the incident with Carter and then-NHL director of player safety Brendan Shanahan's words when he issued the one-game ban will factor greatly into Keith's discipline this time around.
"This is more serious than a case of a player simply having to be responsible for his stick," Shanahan said at the time. "It is not an accidental high stick, nor is it a defensive high stick to an opponent. This is a retaliatory high stick to an opponent that causes an injury."
The combination of the severity of Coyle's injury and Keith's status as a repeat offender could result in grim consequences for the veteran defenseman.
Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville was clearly unhappy after the game and did his best to brush past Keith's looming suspension when questioned by reporters.
"We miss guys all year long. I'm not worrying about hypotheticals," Quenneville said.
At this point, the Blackhawks are well into an NHL playoff spot, the only thing left to be determined is seeding. Missing a guy like Keith - 9 goals, 43 points, an average of 25:14 of ice time per night - for any significant length of time would be potentially crippling to the Hawks' chances of repeating and making it four out of seven.
But with five games left in the regular season, Chicago fans are likely hoping the league rules quickly, allowing Keith to serve his suspension and return in time for the NHL playoffs.
