Keith focused on mentoring rookie
Veteran defenseman taking Boqvist under his wing on and off ice
The time Blackhawks defensemen Duncan Keith and Adam Boqvist spend talking about hockey can be divided into three categories.
1. During games.
2. Between periods.
3. All other instances.
They talk about hockey a lot, which makes sense because it’s their livelihood, they’re defensive partners and Boqvist, the 19-year-old rookie, views Keith, the 36year-old three-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time Norris Trophy winner, as his mentor.
But sometimes they both just shut up and play.
That’s when the real learning takes place.
“Do you want to get talking about something after every shift?” Keith said. “At some point you’ve got to just play. For me when I was young, I didn’t want to hear about everything I could have done better every single time. Sometimes you got to play.”
If Keith’s longtime teammate and frequent defensive partner Brent Seabrook hadn’t required season-ending surgery to both hips and his right shoulder, there’s a good chance Boqvist would still be developing in Rockford instead of with the Hawks.
But once Seabrook was ruled done — and after the Hawks determined Calvin de Haan also would require season-ending right shoulder surgery — a permanent spot in the lineup opened for Boqvist, and school was immediately in session.
“It’s really good for me,” Boqvist said. “I think every young player in the league needs a mentor, and Duncs has been mine.”
The conversations that take place on the ice between the two are a sharp contrast to when Boqvist was playing in the Ontario Hockey League last season with the London Knights. It was a learning experience for everyone with London, and there wasn’t a lot of chatter.
Keith isn’t the most talkative player, but with 14½ seasons and 1,1113 NHL games under his belt, he understands that Boqvist — who played in his 21st career game Saturday night against the Ducks at the United Center — needs some direction.
“Sometimes when you’re under pressure and you have to chip (the puck), up he’s like, ‘Glass! Glass! Glass!’ Boqvist said. “And if I have time (to make a play), he’s like, ‘Time! Time! Time!’ But sometimes it’s going so quick out there you don’t even know what he’s going to do. You just have to get open and do something.
“You just can’t stand there with your stick in two hands. You always have to be open.”
At 19, Keith was beginning his sophomore season at Michigan State and still three years from making his NHL debut. He sympathizes with Boqvist and has tried his best to help the rookie acclimate to the locker room.
“I think that adds to it,” Keith said. “You look at how young they are and you can see some things that happen just with mannerisms … where you can realize this is a pretty young guy to be playing in the NHL. You see where their mindset is from talking to them and realize just how young they are.
“You can feel for that situation and know to make things easier and make them more comfortable any way I can.”
While the 17-year age gap seems big, it’s not as large when you understand what an
“It’s really good for me. I think every young player in the league needs a mentor, and Duncs has been mine.” —Adam Boqvist on his relationship with veteran defenseman Duncan Keith
overgrown kid Keith can be. Nobody in the NHL takes his job more seriously than Keith, but he has a lot of fun, such as during a recent practice when he, Boqvist and Dennis Gilbert erupted with mock hugs and celebrations after an inconsequential triumph.
Keith remembers being around veterans Adrian Aucoin, Jim Dowd and Martin Lapointe when he was a rookie and how much that benefited him. Being a good teammate — not just to rookies but everyone — is part of what he expects from himself.
But nothing is more important to Keith than teaching by doing.
“The biggest thing is being as good as I can be out on the ice,” Keith said. “That helps his game, makes it easier on him. Some of those things would be communicating a lot out on the ice, in the game while we’re on the ice. Trying to be the eyes in the back of his head.
“Being in good position to give him an outlet pass so he’s not caught in a spot where nobody’s available for him and then somebody’s on him. Just making his game easier.”
Keith isn’t the only one in Boqvist’s ear. After Thursday’s loss to the Predators, during which Boqvist had a turnover that led to a goal and was undressed by Roman Josi in front of the Hawks net immediately before another, coach Jeremy Colltion made sure the mistakes were addressed.
“He had a conversation with a few of us,” Colliton said. “It’s not surprising that that happens from time to time. He’s been playing really well, and I thought his last two periods (against the Predators) were better. And we need him — we need him to play well, we need him to be consistent, and that’s part of his growth as a player.”
The Hawks don’t play Boqvist and Keith together just because they want to accelerate the rookie’s development. The pairing has been working. Over the last 10 games entering Saturday, they were on the ice for 121 shots for at even strength and 105 against for a strong 53.54 Corsi percentage. Boqvist even had the first three-game point streak of his career that ended against the Predators.
The mentoring part of their relationship is important to both players. But with Boqvist just starting his career and Keith under contract through the 2022-23 season, they have a chance to move beyond being teacher-pupil and simply known as teammates.
“It’s important to be a good teammate, first and foremost,” Keith said. “I’m one of the older guys, if not the oldest, and he’s one of the youngest. Maybe it gets looked at like (a mentorship), but I try to be a good teammate to all my teammates. Certainly a special spot because he’s a defenseman, he’s a young guy and I like the way he plays. (He) thinks the game, and I enjoy playing with him.
“(I) just want him to keep getting better. And me too.”