Keith Arlen Magnuson (April 27, 1947 – December 15, 2003) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

from Wadena, Saskatchewan who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) between 1969 and 1979. Magnuson played 589 career NHL games, all with the

Chicago Black Hawks Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, wearing # 3, and scoring 14 goals and 125 assists for 139 points. Although he did not score many goals, he was a part of a solid defensive team with the Blackhawks. Perhaps his most telling statistic is his 1,442 career penalty minutes, which included many fighting majors. For a few seasons, Magnuson was

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of the Chicago Blackhawks team. In April 1970, he appeared on the cover of ''

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''. In

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, Magnuson played in the

National Hockey League All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game () is an exhibition ice hockey tournament that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many of the League's star players playing against each other. The ga ...

. He never played for a Stanley Cup winner, losing in the finals twice in 1971 and 1973 both to the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

. Prior to his NHL career, Magnuson was a two time All-American at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

, who led his team to two consecutive NCAA titles in 1968 and 1969. Magnuson was the great-uncle to

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pitcher Trystan Magnuson and uncle to former

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player,

Quinn Magnuson Quinn may refer to: People * Quinn (soccer) (born 1995), Canadian soccer player and Olympic gold medalist * Quinn (given name) * Quinn (surname) * Quinn (musician) (born 2004), American musician Places in the United States * Quinn, Kentucky, ...

. His son Kevin was a member of the 1998 NCAA Ice Hockey Championship team at the University of Michigan and is now a NHLPA registered player agent and lawyer. Magnuson was killed in an auto accident in

Vaughan, Ontario Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

. Fellow NHL alumnus Rob Ramage was behind the wheel (Ramage survived the accident and later found guilty of impaired driving causing death).

Life

Magnuson grew up in Wadena, Saskatchewan. His family moved to Saskatoon when he was 10 years old. When he was seventeen he played for the Saskatoon Blades, before he received a hockey scholarship to the University of Denver. Magnuson joined the Chicago Black Hawks for the 1969–70 season and led the league in penalty minutes in his first two seasons. He became an assistant coach for the Black Hawks after retiring in 1979 and was promoted to head coach for the 1980-81 season.

Death

On December 15, 2003, Rob Ramage was driving Magnuson to an NHLPA players' alumni meeting when his rented Chrysler Intrepid swerved into the oncoming lane and collided with another vehicle, killing Magnuson and injuring the driver of the other vehicle. Ramage was charged with

impaired driving Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether recreational or ...

causing death and

dangerous driving In United Kingdom law, dangerous driving is a statutory offence related to aggressive driving. It is also a term of art used in the definition of the offence of causing death by dangerous driving. It replaces the former offence of reckless driv ...

causing death. Defence lawyer Brian Greenspan claimed the blood and urine tests were flawed, and the smell of alcohol came from beer cans that exploded after the crash.Ramage gets 4 years but is freed on appeal
/ref> Magnuson was buried at Lake Forest Cemetery in Illinois. On November 12, 2008, the Chicago Blackhawks

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

Magnuson's number 3, along with that of Hall of Fame defenceman Pierre Pilote, before a game against the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

Awards and honours

*Played in 1971 and 1972 NHL All-Star Game

Career statistics

Coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Magnuson, Keith 1947 births 2003 deaths Accidental deaths in Ontario AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Alcohol-related deaths in Canada Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chicago Blackhawks announcers Chicago Blackhawks captains Chicago Blackhawks coaches Chicago Blackhawks players Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan National Hockey League All-Stars National Hockey League players with retired numbers NCAA men's ice hockey national champions Road incident deaths in Canada Saskatoon Blades players University of Denver alumni Burials at Lake Forest Cemetery 20th-century Canadian sportsmen