An evening fit for a Keane

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/02/2011 (5593 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was first time in Manitoba Moose history that the franchise retired a jersey, and they did it right.

Before Mike Keane’s No. 12 was raised to the rafters at the MTS Centre, the tributes came from far and wide during a 30-minute ceremony before a crowd of 10,948 that included an Order of the Buffalo Hunt from the premier, a trip to Pebble Beach, a commissioned painting illustrating his 22-year professional career and praise from a Hall of Fame lineup of former teammates via video.

“There’s not a guy I can think of that deserves this more,” said Joe Sakic, who won a Stanley Cup with Keane with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.

“I’m happy to say I coached you,” added former Avs head coach Marc Crawford, now with the Dallas Stars. “I always respected the energy and commitment you came to the rink with.”

Up next was the great Patrick Roy, who won Cups with Keane in both Montreal (1993) and Colorado.

Indeed, Roy was infamously traded from Montreal to the Avalanche after a fallout with Canadiens management in 1995 to join Keane in Colorado.

“Mike played a big role in that trade, not only for myself but for my family,” Roy said, as part of the video presentation. “It was the first time I’d ever been traded. He (Keane) said, ‘Just be yourself. Don’t worry.’ He’s not just a great teammate, he’s a great friend.”

Other former teammates to pay their respects included Montreal Canadiens assistant coach Kirk Muller, current Moose captain Nolan Baumgartner, Guy Carbonneau and current Dallas Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk.

Not a bad legacy for a tough-as-nails battler out of Winnipeg — the kids from his former minor-hockey team, the Assiniboine Park Rangers, where on the ice, too — who was never drafted, yet went on to captain the iconic Montreal Canadiens and win three Stanley Cups for three different teams. In all, Keane played in 1,161 NHL games and recorded 470 points and 881 penalty minutes.

On Feb. 3, 2009, Keane played his 1,500th professional game with the Moose, versus the Lake Erie Monsters.

Keane’s wife Tammy, son Jackson and daughter Olivia — along with his parents Jack and Mary-Ann — each wore jerseys of Mike’s former teams, including the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks.

And after Premier Greg Selinger awarded Keane with the Order of the Buffalo Hunt, the governor of the Moose coughed up the golf trip to Pebble Beach.

Mark Chipman described Keane as the on-ice foundation of the Moose franchise since first signing with the club back in 2005.

“Within days he became our captain,” Chipman said. “And in the five years that followed he led our team in every respect. He left a standard of excellence that left a permanent impression on all of us.”

Not surprisingly, Keane was brief.

“It’s simply unbelievable,” he said, in thanking the fans. “To play in front of your family and friends in your hometown is something I’ll never forget.”

A short speech, with little fanfare.

Keane’s hockey career? Not so much.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca