Conn Smythe Tournament (Post 2000's) Round 1: 2015 Keith vs 2020 Hedman

[blundluntman]

MATCHUP #10 (Round 1): Duncan Keith (2015) vs Victor Hedman (2020)

Duncan Keith (2014-15):
23 GP 3 G 18 A 21 Points

Victor Hedman (2019-20):
25 GP 10 G 12 A 22 Points

Round 1 Matchups:
01 Roy vs 21 Vasilevsky Thread
02 Lidstrom vs 22 Makar Thread
03 Giguere vs 11 Thomas Thread
04 Richards vs 14 Williams Thread
06 Ward vs 12 Quick Thread
07 Niedermayer vs 19 O’Reilly (Still Active) Thread
08 Zetterberg vs 09 Malkin Thread
10 Toews vs 17 Crosby (Still Active) Thread
13 Kane vs 18 Ovechkin Thread
15 Keith vs 20 Hedman
16 Crosby vs 23 Marchessault

Click to read more...

 

[ESH]

Hedman was outstanding in his run, but Keith in 2015 carried that Hawks defense like no other defenseman I’ve seen.

The Blackhawks didn’t even have a 3rd pair that run, they just put Keith back out there with whichever random dude was in the lineup that day.

 

[tabness]

I was never as impressed with Keith throughout his career as so many others are, he was pretty good in 2015 I guess (only watched Chicago in the finals that was like the doldrums of hockey for me) but so was Hedman in his covid cups, maybe I'm missing something about Keith earlier those playoffs?

 

[JackSlater]

Both excellent, but I'd go with Keith. He carried a massive load for Chicago those playoffs given the state of their defencemen and pulled it off very well.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Keith.

 

[JaegerDice]

Keith is in my top 3 for cap era Conn Smythe winners along with Malkin and Thomas.

I was never as impressed with Keith throughout his career as so many others are, he was pretty good in 2015 I guess (only watched Chicago in the finals that was like the doldrums of hockey for me) but so was Hedman in his covid cups, maybe I'm missing something about Keith earlier those playoffs?

Keith has a good case as one of the best playoff performers and arguably THE best Stanley Cup Finals performer of the cap era.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

Keith dragged that Hawks team kicking and screaming to the cup, unanimous winner and the cup winning goal.

 

[Nadal On Clay]

Keith is a good candidate to win the tournament.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

For people who did not watch the Blackhawks in the 2015 playoffs let me summarize it like this:

Remember in 2016 when Erik Karlsson nearly single-handedly carried the Senators to the Finals?
2 goals - 16 assists - 18 points - +13 - 28mins per game TOI

These were Duncan Keith's stats before the Finals in 2015:
2 goals - 16 assists - 18 points - +20 - 31mins per game TOI

Then he added another goal (the Cup winner in game 6) and 2 assists in the finals.
He also scored a 2OT winner against Nashville in round 1.

 

[Johnny Tomala]

Keith

 

[DownIsTheNewUp]

I think a lot of people overlook Hedman on this one. 3rd most goals ever by a defenseman in the playoffs. Only allowing 13 EV goals against while scoring 10 goals himself is pretty nuts.

 

[Voight]

Me everytime I think about Keith in the 2015 playoffs

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Keith had to have made a Faustian bargain to reduce his life span to play the way he did that playoff series. The Hawks blue line was injured and depleted and he carried the team.

 

[Matty Sundin]

Keith performance in 2015 is somewhat underrated and doesn’t get enough praise. It was probably the best playoff performance post lockout.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

I remember him virtually never not being on the ice for a shift, especially when the finals came around. He logged the heaviest, consistent minutes and thrived

 

[Regal]

Keith had to have made a Faustian bargain to reduce his life span to play the way he did that playoff series. The Hawks blue line was injured and depleted and he carried the team.

He regressed a little earlier than I thought someone with his skating and IQ would, but that run probably didn’t help his longevity any.

 

[JaegerDice]

He regressed a little earlier than I thought someone with his skating and IQ would, but that run probably didn’t help his longevity any.

Keith didnt lose that much of a step when he started to decline. Unfortunately, he seemed unwilling to admit to himself that he had lost any step at all. He kept trying to play the same incredibly aggressive style in terms of gap and pressure, but where he had the wheels to compensate when those decisions didn’t work perfectly, he started getting beat, even if only just.

The Athletic did a pretty good breakdown of Keith’s style in their ‘Top 99’ series:

Since rubber first met ice, skating backward was the most fundamental skill a defenseman could have. Keep the onrushing forward in front of you at all times, maintain as tight a gap as you can, and try to steer him toward the outside for a low-percentage shot. It’s just how defense was done.

But it’s not what Keith did.

Quenneville didn’t want his blueliners backing up, he wanted them moving forward — always. That meant attacking the forward rather than giving him the time and space to think, to see the ice, to create. And then, if the forward managed to keep moving ahead, the defenseman was expected to turn and skate right alongside him, in the same direction as him, before swinging into him from the middle of the ice to the outside. It wasn’t about maintaining a gap, it was about eliminating the gap entirely.

It required a ridiculously quick first step. It required the foot speed to go stride for stride with a skilled forward. And it required plenty of nerve, to trust yourself that you can make up any ground you lose if the initial attack in the neutral zone doesn’t dislodge the puck.

In other words, it required Duncan Keith.

If Keith had been willing to alter his game to a more traditional style, where you gap up, try to push the guy to the outside, focus on limiting the forward to a low quality shot, rather than attacking with the intent of breaking the play and getting possession yourself, I think he could have succeeded at it.

But he never lost his nerve. He never stopped believing he could beat the guy back even if the initial gambit didnt work. And he started losing that bet more and more, even if he only lost by a little bit each time.