Exclusive: Duncan Keith on new collaboration with Gift Of The Game

Duncan Keith may have retired from the National Hockey League in 2022, but his contributions to the game have not vanished.

After a stint with the Edmonton Oilers as a player development consultant, Keith moved away from the NHL to focus on raising his 12-year-old son, Colton, and coaching him through his hockey journey.

While Keith would have been content to live out a quieter life in the interior of British Columbia, plans changed when he received an email from an ex-teammate’s wife about a new project some filmmakers were working on: Gift Of The Game, which launched on July 15.

“For me, it’s important, at this stage now where I’m retired, I’m not playing anymore, it was an opportunity for me to reach more people than just where I’m at,” Keith told The Sporting News.

Gift Of The Game director and founder Tom Acton wanted to create instructional hockey videos and sought top players to help spearhead the on-ice production.

Who better than Keith, a three-time Stanley Cup Champion, Conn Smythe winner, and recent Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, to teach about skating, gap control, using the net as a decoy, anticipating forechecks, and mental toughness?

It was an easy yes for Keith, especially since Colton was granted permission to join the video shoots.

They skated and filmed alongside Gift Of The Game co-star, Taylor Heise, the 2024 Professional Women’s Hockey League playoff MVP and 2022 Patty Kazmaier Award winner — given to the top female college hockey player — when she was at the University of Minnesota.

Between Keith’s wealth of defensive knowledge and Heise’s electrifying offensive skills, the two have created a formidable dynamic that covers a wide range of hockey topics.

Keith, who relied on Wayne Gretzky's off-ice VHS tapes and Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe videos as a youngster, knew that Gift Of The Game would provide viewers with a unique opportunity to learn from legends of the game in a never-before-seen way.

“I feel like some of the things that I was able to do on the ice are relayed in that video. Young kids, parents, anybody trying to learn the game of hockey or understand different situations, or skills, can have access to it,” Keith said.

Part of what makes Gift Of The Game so special is its commitment to specific situations. Keith emphasized the importance of checking around your shoulders to see what’s coming out the other side.

While it is far from a revolutionary practice drill, having someone of Keith’s stature explain directly to viewers is far from the advice Gretzky, Orr, and Howe had given during their videos, which were far less instructional than Gift Of The Game.

“I hope it does well. I hope that people take something from it. Even if it’s just one or two things,” Keith said.

As much as Keith enjoys working with Acton, Heise, and the Gift Of The Game crew, the opportunity to share this experience with Colton is something he will always cherish. It is a generational connection that expands far beyond hockey.

When Keith was growing up, his father instilled many of the principles that helped him succeed not only on the ice but off it, emphasizing phrases such as "the hungry wolf hunts best.”

For Keith, even after all these years in the spotlight, it amazes him that he can still give back to the game that has given him so much.

“I never really thought of myself as somebody that kids were emulating until you realize, ‘okay, you are an idol to some of these kids.’

“It’s important to realize that, and if you can give back in any sort of way, this was a great way for me to do that.”

That hunger still lingers in Keith, and stay tuned for future projects by Gift Of The Game.