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Trip to Stanley Cup finals helps Duncan Keith cope with loss of 7 teeth

Brent Seabrook, Antti Niemi, Duncan Keith

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook, left, and Duncan Keith, right celebrate with goalie Antti Niemi their 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks in Game 4 of the NHL Western Conference finals Sunday, May 23, 2010 in Chicago. The Blackhawks swept the series 4-0. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

AP

Duncan Keith lost seven teeth in this afternoon’s game between the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks, but advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals must numb some of that pain. Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune captured some great quotes from the chopper-lite Keith.

“I just smashed all my teeth out,” Keith said as he opened his mouth to reveal the damage. “They numbed it after it happened; they just stuck a bunch of needles in there and froze it all up. It feels a lot better when we win. It would probably be hurting a lot more if we lost.”

Keith lost four teeth on the bottom and three on top and said afterward he had a long night ahead of him at the dentist.

“I took one breath and it felt like my whole mouth was missing so I knew there were some teeth gone,” Keith said. “I saw a couple fall out and I had one in the back of my throat. I could feel it and coughed it out. A bunch of them disintegrated it felt like.

“That sort of thing happens. I’m not the only guy who’s ever lost bunch of teeth or been hit in the mouth with a puck or stick and I’m sure I won’t be the last guy.”

Last weekend, I discussed James Mirtle’s fantastic piece about the emotional and physical trauma hockey players go through when they deal with catastrophic teeth injuries. It’s one of hockey’s oldest and most beloved punchlines, but behind the laughter will be some pretty serious pain for Keith.

That being said, Keith barely missed a beat despite the disturbing injury. He ended up picking up an assist while logging his typical huge amount of minutes on ice. Yup, hockey players are ridiculously tough.

Besides, Keith’s teammate Patrick Sharp found a silver lining for the Norris Trophy-nominated defenseman.

“I told him it’s kind of a blessing in disguise because now he’s going to get some nice fake teeth,” teammate Patrick Sharp said. “He’s going to have a great smile in a couple weeks. That’s playoff hockey (written) all over it. A guy takes one in the face, picking out his teeth in the locker room (and) comes back. He assisted on the Bolland goal there, created the whole goal there by taking a big hit. He’s walking around, skating around the ice, talking to us before the power play, mumbling what we were supposed to do. I don’t think anybody understood what he was talking about.”