Mike Keane

Lore & Background

Undrafted out of junior hockey, Keane signed with the Montreal Canadiens in 1985 and began his NHL career in 1988. He served as captain of the Canadiens from April to December 1995. He was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in 1995–96 and won his second Stanley Cup that season. He later played for the New York Rangers, Dallas Stars (winning the Cup in 1999), St. Louis Blues, and Vancouver Canucks. After the 2004–05 lockout, he joined the Manitoba Moose and was named captain in 2005. His number 12 jersey was retired by the Moose in 2011.

In Their Own Story

The Coliseum was shaking. Third period, 1982, the score knifed tight, and the Islanders had the puck in their own zone. Keane, skating with that low, powerful stride that made him look like he was gliding on a current, carried the puck up the right wall. The opposing winger came in low, trying to strip, but Keane pivoted, spun the stick, and fired a snap pass across the slot to Gillies. The goal was easy. But it was the play before it—the way Keane had absorbed the hit, kept his balance, and still found the passing lane—that made the crowd lose their minds. He skated back, jaw set, already barking instructions to Stoughton on the next zone entry. Four cups. He had earned every single one of them, shift by shift, in the cold, in the noise, in the blue line that never broke.

Reader's Guide

Keane played as a winger, not a defenseman. He never played for the New York Islanders. His NHL career spanned 1988–2004, not the late 1970s–mid-1980s. He won three Stanley Cups (1993, 1996, 1999), not four in the early 1980s.

Did You Know?

• Keane was named captain of the Montreal Canadiens in 1995 but served only until December of that year.
• He was traded alongside Patrick Roy to the Colorado Avalanche in 1995–96.
• Keane's number 12 was the first jersey retired in Manitoba Moose history.
• He competed for Team Canada at the 1987 World Junior Championships, which ended in the infamous Punch-up in Piestany.