Gordon "Duke" Keats

Hockey Athlete - Special Legends Class of 2025

Keats was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958 and the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame in 1964. For decades, it was widely assumed he was already enshrined in Alberta’s provincial Hall.

A World War I veteran from North Bay, Ont., Keats made Edmonton his hockey home following his return to Canada. He first suited up in the Big Four League, scoring 32 points in just 12 games. Despite offers from Toronto, he chose to stay in Edmonton, where he starred for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Canada Hockey League from 1921 to 1926. Over five seasons, he put up consistent scoring numbers, including leading the Eskimos to the 1923 Stanley Cup Final, where they fell just short to the Ottawa Senators in two one-goal losses.

That same year, at the age of 31, Keats was sold to the Boston Bruins of the fledgling NHL for $50,000. He later played with Detroit and Chicago, completing a five-year NHL career. Keats then dominated in the American Hockey League, leading the league in scoring, before returning to Edmonton as player, owner and coach of the Eskimos. His coaching career included a stint behind the bench in Detroit and multiple seasons guiding teams in Edmonton.

Keats was remembered as one of the most colourful and fiery players of his era. The Calgary Herald once described him as “one of the toughest, meanest, most colorful cusses ever to lace on a blade with the hated Edmonton Eskimos of the Dirty Thirties.”

His reputation extended far beyond toughness. In 1952, legendary Montreal coach Dick Irvin called Keats the best playmaker he had ever seen. New York Rangers great Lester Patrick went even further, hailing him as “the brainiest pivot who ever laced on a skate.”