Absurd Goalie Monday: Doug Keans

They say it's hard to pull yourself away from you passion. Most times, people try it out and then can move on easily. Other times, people just can't break themselves away-- even from the playing aspect of things. This week's AGM left and came back and left and came back and still was decent enough at the end of it all. This week, the profile of Doug Keans.

Keans started his career with the minor midget Oshawa Legionnaires in the 1975-76 season, then moving the OHL's Oshawa Generals for a single game. Keans stayed with Oshawa, playing in 90 games between the 1976-77 season and the 1977-78 season, though the records for those years are not readily available.

The Los Angeles Kings selected Keans in the 1978 Draft in the 6th Round and they played him in the IHL with the Saginaw Gears for the 1978-79 season, playing in 59 games, then spent 22 games with Saginaw in the 1979-80, but would be called up to the AHL's Binghamton Dusters for eight games (3-3-2), as well as going to the Kings for 10 games and finished up there with a 3-3-3 record, plus 0-1 in the playoffs. Keans primarily spent the 1980-81 season in the Central League, playing for the Houston Apollos (3-4-4) and Oklahoma City Stars (3-5-0), while getting in nine appearances for the Kings (2-3-1).

The 1981-82 season had Keans spend most the time as a back-up in Los Angeles, getting into 31 games and posting a record of 8-10-7 on the year (0-1 in two playoff games), while playing in 13 games with the AHL's New Haven Nighthawks and finishing there with a 5-5-1 record. More of the same with the split situation in the 1982-83 season, seeing Keans spend 30 games in New Haven with a 13-13-2 record while playing in only six games in Los Angeles, going 0-2-2 for his troubles.

The Kings put Keans on waivers in the summer of 1983, in which the Boston Bruins would pick him up and have him back-up Pete Peeters for the 1983-84 season, posting a 19-8-3 record in 33 appearances, despite having knee surgery in the middle of the season. Keans got into 25 games in the 1984-85 season with a record of 16-6-3 (2-2 in four playoff games), while in the 1985-86 he went 14-13-3 in 30 games. During the 1986-87 season, Keans saw a record number of games in the NHL, appearing in 36 while finishing with a 18-8-4 record, but going 0-2 in two playoff appearances.

During the 1987-88 season, Keans played in 30 games with Boston (16-11-0), only to be sent down to the AHL's Maine Mariners when the Bruins acquired Andy Moog. With the Mariners, Keans went 8-2-0 in 10 games and 5-5 in 10 playoff games.

The 1988-89 season saw Keans in the AHL again, playing in 32 games with the Springfield Indians, posting a 11-16-2 record, while also spending four games with the Baltimore Skipjacks, compiling a 1-2-0 record. After that season, Keans would retire.

Yet, retirement only lasted a few years, as Keans would suit up for the Minnesota Iron Rangers of the amateur ranksin 1992-93, going 2-6-0 in eight games, while also playing for the Jacksonville Bullets of the Sunshine League, going 8-5-0, then 2-2 in the playoffs. He was listed for the Bullets in the 1993-94 season, but didn't play. After a year off, Keans returned during the 1995-96 season for the Bullets, going 5-3-0 in nine games and rostered for the ECHL's Jacksonville Lizard Kings in the 1996-97 season, but never saw action. This time, his retirement was for good.

That's when you know you have the bug and passion to play. The ability to not really get too far away from the game and still be able to play at a decent level when returning, albeit in a lower minor league.