Keith Tkachuk

**Keith Tkachuk** (born Keith Matthew Tkachuk on March 28, 1972 in Melrose, Massachusetts) is an American former professional ice hockey player who has played in the NHL for the Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues and the Atlanta Thrashers.

Tkachuk was drafted 19th overall by Winnipeg in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft.

## Playing Career

### Early Playing Career

Keith played high school hockey at Malden Catholic High School in Malden, Massachusetts. He played one season of collegiate hockey at Boston University, was a member of the United States national junior team in 1991 and 1992 and a member of Team USA in 1992.

He was drafted in the first round (19th overall) in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the Winnipeg Jets, who acquired the pick from the Buffalo Sabres in the deal that sent Dale Hawerchuk to Buffalo.

## Professional=

Only days after the end of the 1992 Winter Olympics, Keith made his NHL debut on February 28, 1992, against the Vancouver Canucks, where he tallied an assist. He would finish the season playing with the Jets, scoring eight points in 17 games. In the Stanley Cup playoffs that year, he scored three goals in seven games.

The following season was Keith's official rookie year where he appeared in 83 games, ending the season with 28 goals and 51 points, including a 12–game scoring streak from March 9 to April 3, 1993.

Keith became the team captain the next season on November 3, 1993, two weeks after recording his first hat-trick, against the Philadelphia Flyers. Some of his accomplishments from that season include leading the Jets in goals (41), points (81) and power play goals (22).

The 1994–95 season (which was shortened by a labor lockout) saw him earn all-star second-team honors, as well as being second on the Jets in points scored.

In the 1995–96 season, Keith dominated the Jets' statistics, finishing first in goals (50), assists (48), points (98), power play goals (20), game-winning goals (6), shots (249) and plus-minus rating (+11).

At the start of 1995–96 season, Keith (who was a restricted free agent at the time) signed a lucrative, front-loaded five-year offer sheet worth $17 million, with $6 million coming in the first season from the Chicago Blackhawks. Despite the Jets' impending relocation to Phoenix, Arizona and the organization's poor financial situation, the Jets matched the offer-sheet within six hours.

As a result, Keith was stripped of the captaincy and was replaced by Kris King; nonetheless, he set a career-high 50 goals and 98 points, the closest he ever came to reaching the 100-point plateau.

Going up against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Detroit Red Wings, the Jets lost in six games, with Keith scoring a goal and two assists in the series. After losing Game 6 by a score of 4–1, the final Jets game in the city of Winnipeg before relocating to Phoenix, he led the Jets in a final skate around Winnipeg Arena in appreciation of the fans.

In 1996, the Winnipeg Jets relocated to Phoenix, Arizona where Keith became a member of the newly formed Phoenix Coyotes and was renamed captain, replacing Kris King. It was with Phoenix during the 1996–97 season that he had his career-best 52 goals, and made his first appearance in the NHL All-Star Game.

He also led the team in goals, points, power-play goals, game-winning goals and shots for the 1997–98 season, earning him his second-straight All-Star appearance.

For the 1998–99 season, he led the team in goals, power-play goals, game-winning goals, shots and plus-minus, and again was named to the All-Star Game. In 1997, he appeared on the front cover of the video game, "NHL Breakaway '98."

After struggling with injuries for the next two seasons, the Coyotes traded Keith to the St. Louis Blues in 2001 in exchange for Ladislav Nagy, Michal Handzus, Jeff Taffe and a first-round draft pick (Ben Eager) where he was re-united with former teammate Dallas Drake, who had signed a free agent deal with the Blues in the summer of 2000.

Keith would leave the team ranking second in all-time goals (323) and first in penalty minutes (1,508), among other records.

Keith made an immediate impact on the Blues, scoring six goals and eight points in the final 12 games of the 2000–01 season. The Blues made it to the Western Conference Final in the playoffs that season, ultimately losing to the Colorado Avalanche, the eventual 2001 Stanley Cup champions.

He experienced several injuries while playing with the Blues; he was also briefly suspended by the team when he reported to training camp overweight, failing his physical at the beginning of the 2005–06 season

On February 25, 2007, Keith was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for Glen Metropolit, a first-round pick in 2007, a third-round pick in 2007 and a second-round pick in 2008.

On June 26, 2007, St. Louis reacquired Keith (along with a conditional fourth-round draft pick) in exchange for a conditional first-round pick in 2008. (If Tkachuk had re-signed with the Thrashers, the Blues would have acquired Atlanta's first-round pick in 2008.)

Since the Blues acquired exclusive negotiating rights with Keith and re-signed him to a two-year deal, Atlanta received a conditional fourth-round pick in 2008.

On June 30, 2007, Keith signed a new, two-year contract with the Blues for $8 million. In order to help prove that the Blues would be better after signing him, they signed left winger Paul Kariya. The Blues' head coach Andy Murray announced that he would try a line where Keith would be centering Kariya on left wing and Brad Boyes on the right.

On the last day of the 2007–08 regular season on April 6, 2008, Keith scored his 500th NHL goal, a milestone only three other American-born players have achieved, as well as the 41st player to reach the milestone in NHL history.

On November 30, 2008, he scored his 511th goal, giving him 1,000 NHL points for his career. He became only the sixth American, and 72nd overall, to achieve that milestone; it came in his 1,077th NHL game.

On June 19, 2009, Keith signed a one-year contract extension with the Blues. On April 7, 2010, he announced that he would be retiring from hockey at the conclusion of the 2009–10 season. He played his final NHL game two nights later on April 9, 2010.

## Accolades

### Records

Keith led the NHL in goals during the 1996–97 season with 52, the first American-born player to do so. During that, season he was also only the fourth player in NHL history to record 50 goals and 200 penalty minutes in a single season.

**Other records**

* Arizona Coyotes #2 franchise record for career game-winning goals (40)
* Arizona Coyotes franchise record for career penalty minutes (1,508)

### Select Milestones

* 1,000 games played — December 1, 2007, against the Chicago Blackhawks
* 700 career points — April 5, 2002, against the Chicago Blackhawks
* 400 career goals — October 12, 2003, against the Colorado Avalanche
* 500 career goals — April 6, 2008, against the Columbus Blue Jackets
* 1,000 career points — November 30, 2008, against the Atlanta Thrashers

## Personal Life

Keith has been married to Chantal Oster (whom he met in Winnipeg) since February 28, 1997. They have three children: Matthew (who currently plays in the NHL for the Calgary Flames), Brady (who currently plays in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators) and Taryn. He is the cousin of NHL players Tom Fitzgerald, Kevin Hayes and Jimmy Hayes.

He works as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues Peewee AA hockey team. He is still a fan favorite in St. Louis, Missouri and is an investor in sports talk radio station KFNS (590 AM, St. Louis MO).

Keith is of Irish descent on his mother's side; when asked about the derivation of his Ukrainian surname, he was unsure, suggesting it could either be "Polish, Russian, [or] Ukrainian, one of those."