Post by flippy on Dec 14, 2009 11:14:27 GMT -5
Nice piece about Mike Keane outta Denver...
Dater: Keane still a real hockey player's player
By Adrian Dater
The Denver Post
Posted: 12/14/2009 01:00:00 AM MST
Updated: 12/14/2009 01:21:34 AM MST
Mike Keane is 42 years old. Mike Keane is the fourth-leading scorer on the Manitoba Moose right now. Mike Keane is more than twice as old as several players on the Moose roster.
Is Mike Keane not one of the best sports stories out there?
Keane returns to Denver on Tuesday night to be honored by the Avalanche as part of its Alumni Night series this season. Of course, the Avs had to find a night on the Moose's schedule when they weren't playing to get Keane to visit.
Keane is in the middle of his fifth consecutive season with the Moose, playing for chump change after 1,161 games of making NHL money. At this point, Keane really is playing for the love of the game, as it seems hopeless any NHL team will give him another chance.
He has been eyed by many NHL teams, but only as a coach or a front- office guy. But Keane stubbornly resists, believing he can still be of good use to a team in a jersey and skates, not a suit.
I have a lot of great memories as a writer covering Keane. He was always a personal favorite, not just because he gave a great quote — who can forget his "They're all a bunch of homers" rip on the Red Wings in 1997? — but because he was smart and funny and a merciless needler.
Nobody was safe from a Keane verbal jab — especially writers. They were all "Dickie Dunns" to him, people to be good-naturedly mocked for their "milky white ice" poetics like the fictional character in "Slap Shot."
Keane always had two things in his hands away from the ice: a cup of coffee and a crossword puzzle. And, three times, a Stanley Cup — with Montreal, the Avs and Dallas.
People who played with him rhapsodize about his leadership qualities and his toughness. He was the enforcer for Theo Fleury with the Moose Jaw Warriors in the 1980s, and in his great new memoir, "Playing with Fire," Fleury wrote of Keane: "If I were going to war, he would be the first guy on my list. He had no talent at all — none. But no matter what he was doing, he had to win."
That about sums it up. The Avs were amazingly fortunate to get both Keane and Patrick Roy in the famous 1995 trade with Montreal by Pierre Lacroix. It remains, for my money, the biggest heist of a deal in NHL history.
If you somehow run into Keane around town Tuesday, remember to keep any waxing nostalgic brief. He'll have practice to get back to with the Moose, who have a big weekend series with the Avs' farm team — the Lake Erie Monsters.
Read more: www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_13991369#ixzz0Zg7UaHH7
Dater: Keane still a real hockey player's player
By Adrian Dater
The Denver Post
Posted: 12/14/2009 01:00:00 AM MST
Updated: 12/14/2009 01:21:34 AM MST
Mike Keane is 42 years old. Mike Keane is the fourth-leading scorer on the Manitoba Moose right now. Mike Keane is more than twice as old as several players on the Moose roster.
Is Mike Keane not one of the best sports stories out there?
Keane returns to Denver on Tuesday night to be honored by the Avalanche as part of its Alumni Night series this season. Of course, the Avs had to find a night on the Moose's schedule when they weren't playing to get Keane to visit.
Keane is in the middle of his fifth consecutive season with the Moose, playing for chump change after 1,161 games of making NHL money. At this point, Keane really is playing for the love of the game, as it seems hopeless any NHL team will give him another chance.
He has been eyed by many NHL teams, but only as a coach or a front- office guy. But Keane stubbornly resists, believing he can still be of good use to a team in a jersey and skates, not a suit.
I have a lot of great memories as a writer covering Keane. He was always a personal favorite, not just because he gave a great quote — who can forget his "They're all a bunch of homers" rip on the Red Wings in 1997? — but because he was smart and funny and a merciless needler.
Nobody was safe from a Keane verbal jab — especially writers. They were all "Dickie Dunns" to him, people to be good-naturedly mocked for their "milky white ice" poetics like the fictional character in "Slap Shot."
Keane always had two things in his hands away from the ice: a cup of coffee and a crossword puzzle. And, three times, a Stanley Cup — with Montreal, the Avs and Dallas.
People who played with him rhapsodize about his leadership qualities and his toughness. He was the enforcer for Theo Fleury with the Moose Jaw Warriors in the 1980s, and in his great new memoir, "Playing with Fire," Fleury wrote of Keane: "If I were going to war, he would be the first guy on my list. He had no talent at all — none. But no matter what he was doing, he had to win."
That about sums it up. The Avs were amazingly fortunate to get both Keane and Patrick Roy in the famous 1995 trade with Montreal by Pierre Lacroix. It remains, for my money, the biggest heist of a deal in NHL history.
If you somehow run into Keane around town Tuesday, remember to keep any waxing nostalgic brief. He'll have practice to get back to with the Moose, who have a big weekend series with the Avs' farm team — the Lake Erie Monsters.
Read more: www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_13991369#ixzz0Zg7UaHH7