Doug Keans

Douglas Frederick Keans (born January 7, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League with the Los Angeles Kings and Boston Bruins between 1980 and 1988.

Playing career

In his youth, he played in the 1970 and 1971 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Barrie.

Following a solid junior career with the Oshawa Generals, Keans was selected in the 6th round (94th overall) of the 1978 NHL entry draft by the Los Angeles Kings. He made his debut in the 1979–80 season, posting a stellar 2.47 goals-against average in 10 games. Keans spent parts of four seasons with the Kings, but was inconsistent and never fully established himself, serving as one of several backups to incumbent starter Mario Lessard. His best season was 1981–82, when he posted an 8–10–7 record and 4.30 GAA in 31 appearances.

Keans was claimed off waivers by the Boston Bruins prior to the 1983–84 season to back up starter Pete Peeters. In Boston, he finally settled down and played consistent hockey, establishing himself as one of the better backup goaltenders in the NHL. In his first season as a Bruin, he posted a 19–8–3 record with an excellent 3.10 GAA as well as his first two career shutouts.

While Boston cycled through starting goalies during the mid-1980s, Keans was a fixture as the backup, routinely outplaying the starter. He spent 5 seasons in Boston, backing up Peeters, Pat Riggin, Bill Ranford and Réjean Lemelin. During this period he never won fewer than 14 games in a season, never finished with a record below .500, and compiled a stellar 84–46–13 record. Despite his solid performances, however, he was considered too small at 5'7" to be relied upon as a #1 netminder.

At the trade deadline near the end of the 1987–88 season, Boston acquired star netminder Andy Moog from the Edmonton Oilers. Lemelin was now the backup, and Keans was relegated to the #3 position and sent to the minors. He spent another season in the minors before retiring in 1989, although he would come out of retirement for two brief stints in low-end minor pro during the 1990s.

Keans finished his nine-year NHL career with a record of 96–64–26 with a 3.50 GAA in 210 career appearances, along with four shutouts.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1975–76 Oshawa Legionaires MJBHL — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1975–76 Oshawa Generals OMJHL 1 0 0 0 29 4 0 8.28 — — — — — — — — — — 1976–77 Oshawa Generals OMJHL 48 — — — 2632 291 0 6.63 — — — — — — — — — — 1977–78 Oshawa Generals OMJHL 42 — — — 2500 172 1 4.13 — 5 1 3 1 299 23 0 4.63 — 1978–79 Saginaw Gears IHL 59 — — — 3207 217 0 4.06 — 2 — — — 120 10 0 5.05 — 1979–80 Los Angeles Kings NHL 10 3 3 3 556 23 0 2.48 .907 1 0 1 — 40 7 0 10.50 .650 1979–80 Binghamton Dusters AHL 7 3 3 2 429 25 0 3.50 .874 — — — — — — — — — 1979–80 Saginaw Gears IHL 22 — — — 1070 67 1 3.76 — — — — — — — — — — 1980–81 Los Angeles Kings NHL 9 2 3 1 454 37 0 4.89 .837 — — — — — — — — — 1980–81 Houston Apollos CHL 11 3 4 4 699 27 0 2.32 .912 — — — — — — — — — 1980–81 Oklahoma City Stars CHL 9 3 5 0 492 32 1 3.90 .883 — — — — — — — — — 1981–82 Los Angeles Kings NHL 31 8 10 7 1431 103 0 4.32 .864 2 0 1 — 31 1 0 1.96 .800 1981–82 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 13 5 5 1 686 33 2 2.89 .901 — — — — — — — — — 1982–83 Los Angeles Kings NHL 6 0 2 2 304 24 0 4.73 .826 — — — — — — — — — 1982–83 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 30 13 13 2 1724 125 0 4.35 .864 — — — — — — — — — 1983–84 Boston Bruins NHL 33 19 8 3 1777 92 2 3.11 .883 — — — — — — — — — 1984–85 Boston Bruins NHL 25 16 6 3 1496 82 1 3.29 .877 4 2 2 — 238 15 0 3.78 .864 1985–86 Boston Bruins NHL 30 14 13 3 1754 107 0 3.66 .863 — — — — — — — — — 1986–87 Boston Bruins NHL 36 18 8 4 1942 108 0 3.34 .881 2 0 2 — 238 15 0 3.78 .864 1987–88 Boston Bruins NHL 30 16 11 0 1658 90 1 3.26 .880 — — — — — — — — — 1987–88 Maine Mariners AHL 10 8 2 0 600 34 0 3.40 .881 10 5 5 — 617 42 0 4.08 .868 1988–89 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 4 1 3 0 239 17 0 4.27 .847 — — — — — — — — — 1988–89 Springfield Indians AHL 32 11 16 2 1737 124 0 4.28 .854 — — — — — — — — — 1992–93 Minnesota Iron Rangers AmHA 8 2 6 0 481 39 0 4.86 .870 — — — — — — — — — 1992–93 Jacksonville Bullets SunHL 15 8 5 0 801 53 1 3.97 .885 5 2 2 1 301 17 0 3.39 — 1995–96 Jacksonville Bullets SHL 9 5 3 0 430 53 0 5.15 .854 — — — — — — — — — NHL totals 210 96 64 26 11374 666 4 3.51 .874 9 2 6 — 428 34 0 4.77 .824