Was Duncan Keith’s 2010-11 An Off Year Or Something Deeper?

Flickr Photo via BridgetDS It’s no secret that Duncan Keith struggled mightily for the majority of the 2010-11 season. While he did flash signs of that Norris-level talent, he spent most of the season dealing with the negative side of his plus/minus and finishing with a much lower point total than that of Chicago’s Cup-winning season of 2009-10. Many figured that Keith’s early struggles were just related to the rest of the team trying to gel together, as was the case with many others on this year’s Blackhawks squad. This was especially true for the defense early, with the blueliners struggling to adapt to playing with the puck-handling goaltender, Marty Turco. However, once Corey Crawford, a goaltender more similar to that of Antti Niemi, took the reigns from Turco, Keith’s stats still dwindled and he still found it impossible to find consistency. Keith’s stats on the season weren’t pretty for a franchise defenseman, especially one who took ...