Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, a pair of Stanley Cup champions and Olympic gold-medal winning defencemen, will be among those forever enshrined in B.C. hockey history this summer.
The former Chicago Blackhawks duo, along with the 2007 Vancouver Giants, Lonnie Cameron and Ronnie Paterson, have been announced as part of the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame (BCHHF) Class of 2023 in Penticton.
Keith and Seabrook played more than 1,000 NHL games together with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2005 to 2020, capturing three Stanley Cups and teaming up on Canada’s blue-line in 2010 to win Olympic gold.
“I just feel fortunate and grateful to have had him as a teammate and a friend all these years and now to be able to say that we’re going into the B.C. Hockey of Fame together is just a huge honour for both of us,” Keith said Tuesday, Feb. 28, following the Hall of Fame’s announcement at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton.
“It makes it even more special knowing I’m going in with him.”
The Winnipeg-born Keith moved to the Okanagan when he was 14 years old, suiting up for the Penticton Panthers in the BCHL before being drafted by the Blackhawks in the 2002 NHL Draft. Seabrook, a native of Richmond, was selected by Chicago one year later, posting a total of 661 points in a 1,114 game, 15-year NHL career.
“It is unique and almost unheard of that two defenders who played together as a pair at the highest level for so long will be inducted together,” said Jim Hughson, a former Hockey Night in Canada play-by-play commentator and current BCHHF chair.
Joining the former Blackhawks are the Memorial Cup-winning Vancouver Giants from 2007, who featured the likes of current NHL forwards Evander Kane and Milan Lucic.
Victoria-based referee Lonnie Cameron will also be inducted into the Hall of Fame this July, after officiating in the NHL from 1996 to 2019 and working a pair of Olympic Games in 1994 and 2014.
Rounding out the Class of 2023 is Ronnie Paterson, who will be honoured within the builders’ category following his time as a goaltender at the University of British Columbia and owner at the junior hockey level.
Paterson is the current owner of the Pacific Junior Hockey League’s White Rock Whalers.
This year’s inductees will be honoured with a ceremony on July 21, at the SOEC. Tickets can be purchased on valleyfirsttix.com and go on sale March 1.
“I’m extremely honoured and couldn’t be more proud,” Keith said. “It’s pretty surreal and it’s going to be a fun day in July when it happens.”
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