Keith Arlen Magnuson (April 27, 1947 – December 15, 2003) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

from Wadena,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) between 1969 and 1979. Magnuson played 589 career NHL games, all with the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, wearing # 3, and scoring 14 goals and 125 assists for 139 points. Although he didn't score many goals, he was a part of a solid defensive team with the Blackhawks. Perhaps his most telling statistic is his 1,442 career penalty minutes, which included many fighting majors. For a few seasons, Magnuson was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the Chicago Blackhawks team. In April 1970, he appeared on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''. In

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, Magnuson played in the

National Hockey League All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game (french: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey, links=no) is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many o ...

. He never played for a Stanley Cup winner, losing in the finals twice in 1971 and 1973 both to the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

. Prior to his NHL career, Magnuson was a two time All-American at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

, who led his team to two consecutive NCAA titles in 1968 and 1969. Magnuson was the great uncle to

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher

Trystan Magnuson Trystan Stuart Gwyn Magnuson (born June 6, 1985) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics. Career He was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays with the 56th pick ...

and uncle to former

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

player,

Quinn Magnuson Quinn may refer to: People * Quinn (soccer) (born 1995), Canadian soccer player and Olympic gold medalist * Quinn (given name) * Quinn (surname) * Quinn (musician) Places in the United States * Quinn, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Quinn ...

. His son Kevin was a member of the 1998 NCAA Ice Hockey Championship team at the University of Michigan and is now a NHLPA registered player agent and lawyer. Magnuson was killed in an auto accident in

Vaughan, Ontario Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

. Fellow NHL alumnus

Rob Ramage George Robert Ramage (born January 11, 1959) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnes ...

was behind the wheel (Ramage survived the accident and later found guilty of impaired driving causing death).

Life

Magnuson grew up in

Wadena, Saskatchewan Wadena ( ) is a town in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, located east of Saskatoon, north of Fort Qu'Appelle and northwest of Yorkton on the eastern shore of the Quill Lakes. The town is known for its birdwatching and hunting opportunities ...

. His family moved to Saskatoon when he was 10 years old. When he was seventeen he played for the Saskatoon Blades, before he received a hockey scholarship to the University of Denver. He joined the Chicago Black Hawks for the 1969–70 season and led the league in penalty minutes in his first two seasons. He became an assistant coach for the Black Hawks after he retired in 1979 and was promoted to head coach for the 1980-81 season.

Death

On December 15, 2003,

was driving Magnuson to an NHLPA players' alumni meeting when his rented

Chrysler Intrepid Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

swerved into the oncoming lane and collided with another vehicle, killing Magnuson and injuring the driver of the other vehicle. Ramage was charged with

impaired driving Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

causing death and

dangerous driving In United Kingdom law, dangerous driving is a statutory offence. It is also a term of art used in the definition of the offence of causing death by dangerous driving. It replaces the former offence of reckless driving. Canada's Criminal Code ha ...

causing death. Defence lawyer

Brian Greenspan Brian H. Greenspan, (born March 14, 1947 in Niagara Falls, Ontario) is a Canadian lawyer. He is one of the most prominent and respected defence lawyers in Canada. Career Greenspan received his B.A. from the University of Toronto in 1968 and his ...

claimed the blood and urine tests were flawed, and the smell of alcohol came from beer cans that exploded after the crash.Ramage gets 4 years but is freed on appeal
/ref> On November 12, 2008, the Chicago Blackhawks retired Magnuson's number 3, along with that of Hall of Fame defenceman

Pierre Pilote Joseph Albert Pierre Paul Pilote (December 11, 1931 – September 9, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and perennial All-Star, most notably for the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), for which he served ...

, before a game against the Boston Bruins.

Awards and honours

*Played in 1971 and 1972 NHL All-Star Game

Career statistics

Coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Magnuson, Keith 1947 births 2003 deaths Accidental deaths in Ontario AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Alcohol-related deaths in Canada Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chicago Blackhawks announcers Chicago Blackhawks captains Chicago Blackhawks coaches Chicago Blackhawks players Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan National Hockey League All-Stars National Hockey League players with retired numbers NCAA men's ice hockey national champions Road incident deaths in Canada Saskatoon Blades players University of Denver alumni