Keith works overtime in reaching 1,000th game with Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- It's tough to make Duncan Keith slow down.
Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is asked if he thinks about scaling back the minutes played by the 35-year-old defenseman. But telling Keith to do that and getting Keith to do that are two different things.

"It's not even a consideration because he's fine. He's always fine," Quenneville said. "'No, I'm fine,' he says. The last thing he's worrying about is cutting back. You want to cut him back and he looks at you like, 'Why?' He's like every other player, he wants to play and he wants to play more."
It is a formula that has delivered Keith to an NHL milestone. He is expected to play in his 1,000th NHL game when the Blackhawks host the St. Louis Blues at United Center on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, FS-MW, NHL.TV). He will become the sixth player and third defenseman (Bob Murray, Brent Seabrook) to play 1,000 games with Chicago.
"It means a lot," Keith said. "It's a privilege to be in this league. I grew up as a kid dreaming and thinking about how I was going to make the NHL every day of my life. One game away] from 1,000, it's not something I really thought about. I just wanted to get here."
***[RELATED: Duncan Keith: 100 Greatest NHL Players* ]**
Since his rookie season in 2005-06, Keith has played more minutes than any other NHL player (25,190:29), an average of 25:13 per game. He's been just as busy in the Stanley Cup Playoffs; since 2008-09, the first time the Blackhawks went to the postseason in Keith's NHL career, he's totaled 3,551:53 of ice time in 126 playoff games, an average of 28:11 per game. Of the 15 active defensemen to play at least 100 playoff games since 1997-98 when ice time became an official statistic, two others have averaged more than 25 minutes per game: Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins (26:43 in 159 games) and Ryan McDonagh of the Tampa Bay Lightning (25:14 in 113 games).
Keith has won the Stanley Cup three times (2010, 2013 and 2015). He won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman in 2009-10 and 2013-14 and was unanimously voted the Conn Smythe winner as the most valuable player of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when he had 21 points (three goals, 18 assists) in 23 games.
He's one of three defensemen to win the Conn Smythe in the past 16 years, joining Scott Niedermayer of the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings in 2002.

"He was one of the first [defensemen] to win a Conn Smythe in a long time and, I don't know, that just made me so happy when he won that because I feel [defensemen] get overshadowed all the time when it comes to awards like that," Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. "He plays some tough minutes, he plays against other teams' top lines, he's on power plays, he's on penalty kill, he does it all."
When the Blackhawks selected Keith (6-foot-1, 192 pounds), in the second round (No. 54) of the 2002 NHL Draft, big, rugged defensemen were still the norm. What Keith lacked in size he made up for in speed and endurance.
A fitness fanatic, Keith would find, through his workouts, any edge he could gain on opponents.
"I never had a skills coach, never had a personal trainer, but I always did my own research," Keith said. "The biggest thing is I knew I wanted to get better. I knew there was a way to get quicker and faster off the ice, and I would do some of the stuff that I'd research and I'd feel better. So, it became kind of an obsession that way."
Chara, the Bruins' 41-year-old captain, has played more minutes than any active NHL player (34,564:51 in 1,427 games) since 1997-98. He said Keith's complete game is a benefit.
"I think that it's his ability to skate and playing not overall physically, but he's not backing down; he's playing his defense responsibly," Chara said. "He always has a good gap. And being productive, too. He's a smart player, making things happen, especially on the power play. But yeah, he competes. He's obviously a big reason why Chicago got those Stanley Cups."
Keith's playing time remains steady this season, leading the Blackhawks with 24:36 ice time per game, more than four minutes more than any other defenseman (Henri Jokiharju is second with 20:25 per game).

As for cutting down Keith's minutes, Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger, who averaged 27:27 of ice time per game in his career, said that's easier said than done.
"For some reason, it never works out that way," said Pronger, a senior adviser of hockey operations for the Florida Panthers. "The games are harder, or someone gets hurt. Penalties, power plays, you're on the penalty kill, you're on the first power-play unit. Tons of things can happen, be it in a game, segment, month or season where the goal might be to play less. But you happen to play the same and, in some cases, you play more.
"For the most part, you take pride in the game. When you play a ton of minutes, you take pride in shutting down your opponent and you train in the offseason to withstand the rigors."
Last season, Keith said he'd like to play hockey until he's 45. He'll be 39 at the end of his current contract (2022-23) with the Blackhawks. Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Chelios, who played until he was 48, could see it happening.
"When it comes time to pass a torch to younger guys, and by no means is he close to that, he'll accept a different role if he continues to want to keep playing," said Chelios, an ambassador for the Blackhawks. "He's able to adjust to every type of situation. I love what he says. I want him to play forever, too."
NHL.com staff writer Amalie Benjamin and correspondent Sean Farrell contributed to this report