Mike Keenan weighs in on Stanley Cup Finals
Former Flyers and Blackhawks coach Mike Keenan weighs in on the Philly-Chicago matchup for the Stanley Cup.
Mike Keenan weighs in on Stanley Cup Finals
CHICAGO – Mike Keenan has coached both the Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup Finals. In fact, Keenan was the man behind the bench in Chicago during the Hawks' last trip to the Finals in 1992.
They lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Mario Lemieux that year. Two years later, he led the New York Rangers to the Cup in his first and only season with the team in 1994.
He also took the Flyers to the Finals in 1985 and 1987. Few can question his resume – and few know both of the Flyers and Blackhawks like Keenan, who has served as an analyst for both the Rangers’ MSG Network, NBC and Versus this season.
Keenan weighed in on the Flyers-Blackhawks series as a guest 97.3 ESPN FM in Atlantic City on Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what he said:
“I’m really excited, because in the big picture,” Keenan said, “One of the teams I coached are going to win this, it’s pretty neat.”
On his memory with the Flyers’ Stanley Cup runs in 1985 and 1987:
"First of all, they were a great group to work with and the team was fairly consistent. I can name every line, what they did, they amount of ice time they produced. I'm very proud of the years I spent in Philadelphia, the team I had, and the players I coached."
On a Chicago-Philly matchup:
"I think it is good for hockey, as far as this matchup goes. I don't know what the issue with Philadelphia was all year, but when you get this far anything can happen. Chicago had a very strong year start to finish and now they have home-ice advantage. I know Mr. Snider has been waiting a long time to get back to this point and he is there again."
On his experience with Chris Pronger:
"I traded for Pronger when he was in Hartford when he was 21 or 22. He knows the game exceptionally well, smart all-around players, Hart Trophy winner and his presence has been felt here."
On Peter Laviolette’s coaching job:
"Peter was an assistant coach of mine when I was in Boston. Peter brings winning experience, he won a cup in Carolina and you can never sell experience short. Under pressure they were down and they found a way to comeback and Peter had a great influence, along with Pronger."
On Michael Leighton’s amazing run:
“It's not that surprising to me, sometimes it's just finding the right situation, the right team, you can find your niche and rhythm. Both goalies are new to this deal.”
On coaching at the age of 60:
"I like to come back and coach at some point. I am healthy and feel young and vibrant."
On who he is rooting for in the Finals:
"I am rooting for both teams, it's a win-win for me. I think this series can definitely go the distance."
So, if you don’t know much about Keenan – or don’t remember some of the stories that made his personality so memorable, this excerpt from Bill Meltzer and Thomas Tynander’s book “Pelle Lindbergh: Behind the White Mask” may help you understand why Keenan’s nickname is “Iron Mike.”
Enjoy:
Many of the Flyers players think Mike Keenan is crazy. But the club's most respected leaders – Dave Poulin, Mark Howe, and Brad Marsh first and foremost – recognize Keenan's tactics as psychological ploys. Keenan is perfectly happy being the players' common enemy, so long as the team delivers for him on game day.
As Keenan intended, the team has become a close-knit bunch, sharing the bond of surviving life under the ultra-demanding coach. By comparison, even the Flyers' toughest NHL opponents seem manageable.
The key to playing succesfully for Keenan is to recognize that most of the things he says and does are designed for effect and shouldn't be taken personally. That's often easier said than done, however.
No one, it seems, is safe from the wrath of Iron Mike. On one ocassion, he stood in the locker room during intermission, breaking sticks and hollering as the players sat at their stalls.
Seemingly out of the blue, Keenan interrupted his own diatrabe and said, "And where the hell are the equipment guys, anyway?"
He stormed off into the equipment room and found equipment managers Kevin Cady and Kurt Mundt.
"Wake the hell up!" the players heard Keenan scream from the other room. "What are you two idiots doing in here? Do your (bleeping) jobs!"
Meanwhile, Keenan gave Cady and Mundt an exaggerated wink to let them know he wasn't really angry with them. It was all a show, which he punctuated by slamming the door and storming back into the locker room.
The ploy worked. The shocked players looked at each either with wide eyes. No one had ever seen a head coach berate the team equipment managers before, especially when they'd done nothing wrong.
But among the players, the most infamous surprise Keenan ever had in store for them took place during his first season as Flyers' coach: the "Christmas Death Skate" of 1984.
Early on the morning of December 24, the players arrived at the Coliseum for what they thought would be a light practice before an informal team Christmas party with plenty of pizza and beer to go around, and an exchange of gag gifts. The team had recently worked through a four-game losing streak and had won two of its last three games. Everyone was in a good mood.
The previous night, Lindbergh and team won a 7-4 game at home against the Washington Capitals. Apart from a meltdown early in the third period that saw the Caps score two quick goals to trim a 7-2 deficit, Philly controlled most of the game.
A hat trick from Tim Kerr, two goals by Murray Craven and a pair of assists apiece from Howe, Brian Propp, Rick Tocchet and Peter Zezel led the way offensively. At the other end of the ice, Pelle turned back 27 of 31 shots to earn the win. Many of the saves were of the difficult variety, as the play was wide open. Lindbergh had little chance to stop any of the goals Washington scored.
As the players filed onto the Coliseum ice on Christmas Eve morning, they were greeted by several blasts of Keenan's whistle. He ordered the players to start skating end-to-end sprints.
The Flyers skated as fast as they could, hoping to get the drill over with quickly. No such luck. Keenan kept them skating.
And skating.
And skating some more.
The bag skate lasted for over two hours. By now, the players' legs burned and some dehydrated players wretched and were close to vomiting. But no one was excused.
Finally, as the players neared the point of collapse, Keenan blew the whistle to end practice. He gathered his team. Most of the players sat, staring straight down at the ice, both out of exhaustion and anger.
Keenan moved his piercing gaze slowly across the ice. One by one, the players looked up at the coach. At last he spoke.
"Always expect the unexpected," he said. "And Merry Christmas."
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good piece— JimCC- Loved Keenan when he was here, they had some of the grittiest bunch of players back in the 85 through 87. Those teams captained by Dave Poulin, never seemed to take a game off, always played hard, the way these current Flyers are playing. Laviolette reminds me a lot like Keenan. Of course coaches like them eventually wear out but hopefully we can get a cup or 2 before that happens! GO FLYERS!!!— phillysportguy
- Sounds like Herb Brooks!!!— Flockey_Hockey
LOVE Iron Mike! No team ever wants to make injuries an excuse- but healthy- his Flyers probably win in both '85 and '87. Lavy's style is different, but I have the same faith in him. FLYERS in 6.- Reminds me of the practice scene in Miracle. Nearly identical.— bioman85
Comment removed.- He was a complete psychopath, but when you think about it, he also probably was the team's second-best coach, behind The Fog. Go figure.— Mike P
- You didn't mention another Keenan quirk: ice-chewing. He was constantly reaching into the ice chest on the bench to munch on ice shavings. You saw it on TV all the time. It was bizarre.— Bob1
Ironically ice chewing is often a sympton of an iron deficiency.— tornadoh- Loved watching those teams from '85-88, 1987 was Hextall's Rockie year. Keenan got the most out of players. Those were some great teams and Flyer players. I loved reading their names again. As good as they were, Edmonton had even better players.— 76er
- Keenan was a wack job in Chicago also.— Happy Hawks Fan
- Was thinking the same thing Flockey. Loved the quote: "Always expect the unexpected...and Merry Christmas."— NYFlyersFan
- GNIKGNARLY-Maybe not '85 but '87 yeah,that seventh game was winnable.With the Flyers up 1-0,someone (Craven ?) put a shot behind Fuhr that was swept away by an Edmonton d-man,Crossan shot right into Fuhr on another good opportunity,wish I had a shorter memory.— Yankee Air Pirate 12
If no Gretzky those Flyer teams bring home Stanley. Tim Kerr was just a great hockey player. I think it was Langway that said trying to move Kerr from in front of the goal was like trying to move a giant redwood. I met Mike once - saw him walking down the street - hollered from three flights up - he was with his family and they gave me a big wave - I wasn't done - found him in a nearby restaurant - now I'm just a kid - dressed in a hotel front desk monkey suit but the man gets up from the table, nearly knocking it over, shakes my hand, stands and talks with me for a while and introduces me to his whole family - while I beam and blather on about what a great job he's doing with the Flyers....respect for the fans and the game goes a long way doesn't it....Iron Mike is a -okay in my book - Besides the ice chewing you could literally see his hair line recede as the season and playoffs progressed - "some fun eh" - Go Flyers- not sure if this is true but, keenan occasionally would kick peter zezel out of the locker room and make him get dressed next the zamboni before games..— stanley
- Mike Keenan is, or was if he does get another job, a great coach. He didn't keep getting back to the finals by accident. It would be really interesting to see a real analysis from him about the series. GO FLYERS! WIN FOUR (MORE)!— BEMiller
I was bagging after that story about the equipment guys. Good stuff. Being the coach that he is, he should have more Stanley Cup victories, but had the unfortunate task of going up against 2 of the greater teams of all-time...Thought he'd be coaching in Philly in forever.- the best part was watching keenan go slowly bald thru the years— lifemaster
- Those Edmonton teams were phenomenal. Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Coffey, Lowe, and Fuhr. Five of the six starters are in the hall of fame, I believe. The '87 finals was awesome. J.J. Daigneault's goal in game six was incredible. Classic series!— socalphillyguy
- Jay Grace, I don't know what "va laaa" is, but Brian Propp used to say "Guffaw" after every goal he scored.— reggiedunlop
- Look up "Narcissism" in the dictionary and you'll find a picture of Mike Keenan.— 88etrain
- Problem is you can only do that for so long. He managed it for four years here. And then as the reputation spreads around the league your length of rope gets shorter with each team. His greatest accomplishment was winning the Cup with the Rangers, which is why Flyers fan should maybe not love him as much as they do. Everybody talks about Richter and Leetch and Messier but they were all there before and after and they only won it the only year Keenan was their coach.— roadtriptoday
- Keenan too tough for today's wimp Flyers and fans. I loved Mike Keenan, bald or otherwise.— Big Tom Threw 3
- I agree with most of the comments except the knucklehead that actually thinks the Flyers would have won the Cup in 85 and 87 if not for injuries (Lindberg 85 and Kerr plus a few others in 87). The fact that the Flyers took the series in 87 to 7 games is a miracle by itself. If hockey got the same publicity as the other sports, those Edmonton teams would be recognized as one of the greatest collection of talent in the history of pro sports. They had something like 8 Hall of Famers (maybe more) on those teams. The Flyers were great and fun to watch, but the Oilers were just flat out legendary. Keenan got everything out of those Flyers teams, I don't think anybody could have done better.— phillyjeffsr
- Without "the google" and off the top of my head: Gretzky, Messier, Coffey, Tikkanen (sp?), Fuhr, Ranford (backup), Kurri, and I can't think of the other forward that played on Messier's wing. I know, who cares, but I love hockey so deal with it.— phillyjeffsr
- The 80's Oilers were dominant, and were so much fun to watch. never has been a such a talented team since. I love the flyers, but the oilers were a much, much better team.— jmg7738
- Funny he likes both teams. He told reporters here in Chicago that he likes the Blackhawks to win it and didn't indicate it could go the distance.— wheezkid
- I was in Toronto today and Mike was on a radio show called 'Leafs Lunch'. He picked Chicago in seven, because of the home ice. Sorry to disappoint, Mike! Let's go Flyers.— peteinmich
- he looks like hitler...— mightyonk
- Not sure about the, if there were no injuries they would have won the cup in "85 and '87. It seems like our memory is shorter(or at least more selective) than you think.— UncleStosh
- what a perfect coach for the team back in 85 and 87... going up against perhaps the greatest teams of all time in Gretzky, et al Oilers... to take that squad to 7 games with such a bunch of players that lacked half the talent of that edmonton squad, but made up for it in heart was truly amazing... what glorious years, even though no Cup resulted... I see so much of Keenan in Laviolette... although I think Laviolette is a better coach at X's and O's and adjusting... also the Rangers in 94 had much more talent and Hall of Famers than the 87 Flyers... so although he won the Cup in New York i will disagree with Roadtrip... NYR that yr had multiple HofFers... the Flyers were scrappy, ballsy kids and to take the greatest team of all time to 7 games would be my opinion as Keenans gratest accomplishment... btw he took 3 diff clubs to 4 diff stanley cups over 9 yrs... not shabby...like i said i see him and Peter l very similar... sure beats the uninspiring, panicky John Steven... what a world of difference!— EndTheDrought
- My father took me to games in 1967. And I watched all through the cup years and then lost the team as I boarded in NJ for high school and on Long Island for college. So it was Keenan's cardiac kids that were the Flyers team I returned to in the fall of 1984. And they shine so brightly in my memory and Keenan's craziness is just another element. Our defense had gotten shaky post-cup and Mark Howe came and it just stabilized and solidified around him and his outlet transition point shot game was all so good as well. And the forwards were just such a bunch of hard workers, get your nose dirty guys. Did anyone think that moving Darryl Sittler for Murray Craven wasn't nuts! But what Flyer years of 25-30 goals did Craven turn in for us. And Rene Veneziale-I'll never forget Brad Marsh singing the words to God Bless America standing on the blue line before the 1985 Finals Game 1 and how utterly nauseous and scared to death Murray Craven looked standing next to him. A bunch of guys on our team today would have fit that team. Bring Stanley Home-Guys!— RI_flyers_guy
- The thing about those teams was the loss of Pele. If we didn't loose him in Nov of 85 we would have been the team of the late 80's. I loved those teams and cried my eyes out when we lost probably the greatest Flyers tender since Parent. I thought he had more talent then any other goalie I have ever seen. RIP Pele...We still miss you...Let's go Flyers— piercit
- Mike Keenan is one ruthless, cold-hearted dude. I remember him telling Ron Sutter that if he didn't produce more, he would "bury" his brother Rich in the minors. The Flyers are up against a tough opponent in the Blackhawks, without a doubt. But Chicago has not faced a team with the offensive and defensive balance that Philly has. "Big Buff" will meet his match in "Big Chris." Pronger has the finals experience that Byfuglien lacks. Marian Hossa becomes the first player to lose the cup three years in a row - with three different teams. P.S. If Tim Kerr had not been injured, the Flyers would have beated Edmonton in the 1987 finals.— Ken_Spencer
- Why the Flyers will win and the Blackhawks won't be back: http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/33825-THNcom-Playoff-Blog-Why-the-Flyers-will-win-and-the-Blackhawks-wont-be-back.html— Ken_Spencer
- 5/29/10'.FLYERS-ALL-THE-WAY-'N'I'VE;SCENE-IT-ALL.[OVER-MY; 47-YEARS]. THE35-GAME-UNBEATEN-STREAK].[THE-RETURN-OF-THE-RUSSIAN; RED-ARMY-TEAM]. BOTH.[STANLEY-CUPS-'N'-THE-FOLLOWING-CUP-YEARS].[1998-'N'-1997'.].— TGP63
- I remember an article where Keenan threatened Ron Sutter. He told him if he didn't produce that he was going to bench his brother, Rich. That's some crazy head games there! Those teams during the Keenan years were a blast to watch, gritty and determined-good stuff. Let's go Flyers, think Stanley Cup!— CCRN
- Keenan was one of the biggest coaching head cases all time. He gets run out of town where ever he has gone. Gotta be ought your mind to hire this mope who is out of his mind. He can yap it up all he wants. What creeton!!— chicagostyle
