Gordon Blanchard "Duke, Iron Duke" Keats (March 1, 1895 – January 16, 1972) 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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

who played for the

Toronto Blueshirts The Toronto Hockey Club, known as the Torontos and the Toronto Blueshirts, was a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They were a member of the National Hockey Association (NHA). The club was founded in 1911 and began operations in 1912 ...

of the

National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association (NHA), officially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor of today's National Hockey Lea ...

(NHA),

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

of the

Western Canada Hockey League The Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925 and disbanded in 1926. The WCHL's Victoria C ...

(WCHL) and the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

, Detroit Cougars and

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 ...

of 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 1915 and 1929. He was most famous for his time in the WCHL where he was named a First-Team All-Star by the league in each of its five seasons of existence. He won the league championship and appeared in the 1923 Stanley Cup Final with the Eskimos. Duke Keats was inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

in 1958.

Playing career

Keats was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and at a young age moved with his family to

North Bay, Ontario North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing. North Bay developed as a railroad centre, and its airport was an important military ...

where he was given his nickname of "Duke" at the age of six. He joined the Cobalt Mining League at the age of 14, and three years later was being paid $75 a week to star in the league. He joined the NHA's

in 1915 and finished fifth in league scoring that year. After playing part of a second season with Toronto in 1916–17, he enlisted in June 1916 in the Canadian military as a member of the 228th Battalion as part of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The 228th had played in the NHA during 1916–17, but as Keats was still a member of the Blueshirts his superiors saw that he was unavailable for any games. He left for the United Kingdom on February 19, 1917. Overseas the 228th was reconstituted into the 6th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops. On January 10, 1918 Keats was sentenced to 14 days' field punishment for drunkenness, but otherwise had no noteworthy events during his time in the war, and by March 1919 he was back in Canada. Duke Keats

Keats settled in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Alberta after the war and joined the

of the

Big-4 League The Big-4 League was a top level senior ice hockey league that operated in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta for two seasons between 1919 and 1921. Created with the intention of competing for the Allan Cup senior-amateur championship, the league's e ...

in 1919, leading the league in scoring in both 1919–20 and 1920–21. Officially an amateur league, there were rumours that Keats and several other players were secretly being paid a professional salary to play in the Big-4. The team officially turned professional when it helped form the WCHL in 1921 with Keats as the league's greatest star. He played for the Eskimos in all five seasons of the league's existence and was named a First-Team All-Star at centre in each. One of the most gifted offensive players of his time, legend has it that he once collected a puck in his own zone and scored a goal after skating the length of the ice surface backwards. Keats led the Eskimos in scoring in 1921–22, recording 31 goals and 24 assists in 25 games, to lead the Eskimos to the top record in the league and the WCHL final where they lost to the

Regina Capitals The Regina Capitals were a professional ice hockey team originally based in the city of Regina, Saskatchewan in the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921. Western Canada Hockey League Capitals (1921–1926) 1921 was the Regina Cap ...

. The Eskimos again finished with the league's top record in 1922–23, and again faced the Regina Capitals in the final. The Eskimos avenged the previous season as Keats scored the championship winning goal in overtime of the second game. Keats and the Eskimos went on to lose the 1923 Stanley Cup Final to the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

. Facing financial ruin, the Eskimos sold the rights to Keats and six other players to the

for $50,000 in 1926. He played half of the 1926–27 NHL season in Boston before he was traded to the Detroit Cougars, along with

Archie Briden Edward Archibald "Red" Briden (July 16, 1897 – June 8, 1974) was a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played 14 games in the National Hockey Association, 72 games in the National Hockey League, 82 games in the Pacific Coast Hock ...

, in exchange for

Frank Fredrickson Sigurdur Franklin Fredrickson (Sigurður Franklín Friðriksson; June 3, 1895 – May 28, 1979) was an Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey player and aviator. As a player and coach, he was significant to both the amateur and professional ice hockey as ...

and

Harry Meeking Henry Arthur "Hurricane Howie" Meeking (November 4, 1894 – December 13, 1971) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played three seasons in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Arenas, Detroit Cougars and Boston Bruins. He was ...

. Keats began the following season in Detroit but was suspended early in the season after swinging his stick at a spectator in Chicago who was heckling him. He missed three weeks of play as a result. The day after his reinstatement, the Cougars sent him to the

for Gord Fraser and $5,000 cash. After three games with Chicago in 1928–29, he left the team and helped organize the

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

of the American Hockey Association (AHA), and was the league's top scorer that season. He played parts of two more seasons in Tulsa before taking a season off in 1931–32. Keats returned to Edmonton in 1932 as a player, coach and owner of a reformed Eskimos team. He played two seasons before retiring as a player. Keats went on to coach several teams in the Canadian prairies and briefly worked for the Black Hawks before settling in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

in 1947 where he worked for the government and served as president of the Victoria Commercial Hockey League. He died on January 16, 1972 and is buried in Royal Oak Burial Park in Victoria. Keats was inducted into the

in 1958, and into the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame in 1964.

Playing style

Duke Keats, whilst first making his way into the hockey circuit in the Cobalt Mines Hockey League in

Northeastern Ontario Northeastern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario, which lies north of Lake Huron and east of Lake Superior. Northeastern Ontario consists of the districts of Algoma, Sudbury, Cochrane, Timiskami ...

in the early to mid 1910s, started out his playing career as a

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 ...

,"O'BRIEN PLAYERS NOT NEW TO LEAGUE"
''North Bay Nugget''. Jan. 5, 1914 (p. 5). Retrieved 2022-06-25. but he would later switch to forward where he would find himself on the

ice position.

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 ...

head coach and former player

Dick Irvin James Dickinson "Dick" Irvin Jr. (or II) (July 19, 1892 – May 16, 1957) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He played for professional teams in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the Western Canada Hockey League, and th ...

, in a 1952

Dink Carroll Austin "Dink" Carroll (November 12, 1899 – April 8, 1991) was a Canadian sports journalist. A columnist for the '' Montréal Gazette'', he won the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in 1984 and is a member of the media section of the Hockey Hall o ...

column in the

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

, claimed that Keats was the best playmaker he had ever seen, besting out

centre forward

Bill Cowley William Mailes "Cowboy" Cowley (June 12, 1912 – December 31, 1993) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League for the St. Louis Eagles and Boston Bruins. Described as the Wayne Gretzky of h ...

. Irvin, who had played against Keats in the WCHL in the early 1920s, claimed that Keats was slow on his skates but that he was so strong at holding onto the puck, and such a great stickhandler, that he could wait out until his wingers were in the right position to receive his passes, and then put it right on one of their stick blades. Outside of his puck-handling skills Keats was also known to have a temper on the ice, which sometimes left him in trouble with league authorities. In a game between Detroit Cougars and Chicago Black Hawks in November 1927, Keats swung his stick against a heckling spectator and almost struck famous

ballroom dance Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...

Irene Castle Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers and dance teachers who appeared on Broadway and in silent films in the early 20th century. They are credited with reviving the popularity of modern dancing. Castle was a st ...

, then wife of Chicago Black Hawks owner Major

Frederic McLaughlin Maj. Frederic McLaughlin (27 June 1877 – 17 December 1944) was an American businessman and soldier. He was the first owner of the Chicago Black Hawks National Hockey League (NHL) ice hockey team. Born in Chicago, Illinois, McLaughlin inherited ...

. He was suspended following the incident and missed three weeks of play as a result. When Keats was reinstated Frederic McLaughlin traded for him to have him on his Black Hawks team.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

NHL coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keats, Duke 1895 births 1972 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Boston Bruins players Canadian Army soldiers Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian Expeditionary Force soldiers Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian military personnel of World War I Chicago Blackhawks players Detroit Cougars players Detroit Red Wings coaches Edmonton Eskimos (ice hockey) players Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Ontario Ice hockey people from Montreal Ice hockey player-coaches North West Hockey League players Sportspeople from North Bay, Ontario Toronto Blueshirts players Tulsa Oilers (AHA) players Western Canada Hockey League players