NHL Hands Keith 6 Games

The NHL Department of Player Safety came down with a significant suspension to Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith for his slash/high-stick to the face of Minnesota's Charlie Coyle.  The veteran defender will now sit out for the remainder of the regular season, including Friday night's game against the Winnipeg Jets, and one playoff game, giving him a total of six games up in the press box for his lack of judgement.

The Blackhawks have already clinched their spot in the playoffs, so there isn't a great deal of controversy with how much time Keith will miss and if anything, the break might do him some good, with the playoffs just around the corner.

With the suspension now ending his regular season, this means that he finishes the 2016 season with 9 goals and 43 points in 67 games, already having missed some time in the season, due to injury.  As of Saturday morning, Keith was ranked 18th among all blueliners in scoring this year and will likely fall in those rankings, when it is all said and done next weekend.  It hasn't been a great year for him, but that doesn't mean he'll be any less valuable in the playoffs or in next season's pool draft.

Hooray! We can embed videos from the Department of Player Safety again. If you want to see the whys and the hows of this suspension, just hit play on the video below.



Keith's disappointing season has been one of a few reasons that Stacey C.'s season has been mired near the bottom of the pool in its final weeks.  Unfortunately for Stacey, the best his team could do in these final few days is 20th overall and even still, he would need to make up 11 points and have a great week.  If all goes well, Keith would be the only one upstairs for his pool team, so it isn't impossible... yet.

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