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Duncan Keith blames his skates for poor play

Image (1) Keith3-thumb-200x300-8095.jpg for post 557

You see it all the time.

A fielder in baseball makes a bad play, misses a catch...then looks down at his glove as if a hole suddenly appeared in his mitt, and that’s to blame.

A golfer misjudges the distance from the rough, shanks the ball 40 yards to the left...then looks at his club head as if to say “what happened?”

Blame the mechanic, not the tools. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

Now we have Duncan Keith saying his skates are a big reason for his disappointing play since the Olympics.

“I like my skates to fit right and to feel good,” Keith said. “When you feel good out there, you play good. It’s been a while since I had a good pair.

“They’re just not sending me good pairs of skates, there’s not much more to say. Every hockey player likes his equipment to feel good and my skating is my biggest asset. When my skates are feeling good and fit right and are how I like them, then I skate how I want to skate.”

As a hockey player, I will admit that not being comfortable in your skates is a serious detriment to playing to the best of your ability. And it does seem as if something has been off with Keith lately.

Despite having 13 points in the 13 games since the break, Keith is a combined minus-7, something that is uncharacteristic for the Blackhawks defenseman.