Former Spartans Honored by NHL

Michigan State University cleaned up a bit at the 2013-14 NHL Awards on Tuesday night in Las Vegas, particularly regarding the blueline.

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith collected his second career Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman. A Winnipeg native who played a season-and-a-half at MSU (2001-2003), Keith led all NHL blueliners this past season with 55 assists.. A member of the Blackhawks since the 2005-06 NHL campaign, he has 65 goals and 305 assists for 370 points in 686 NHL regular-season games. He has also won two Stanley Cups (2010, 2013) with Chicago, and two Olympic gold medals with Canada (2010, 2014).

Boston Bruins defenseman and former Spartan blueliner Torey Krug made the NHL's 2013-14 All-Rookie Team after playing in his first full season in the league. Krug, from Livonia, Mich., skated three seasons at State (2009-2012), tallied 26-57—83 points in 114 outings with the Spartans, and was also the 2012 CCHA Player of the Year. He burst onto the NHL scene during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring four goals in 15 appearances after playing in a total of just three prior NHL regular-season games . The Bruins won the Eastern Conference title, but fell to Keith's Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final in six games.

Concerning other former NCAA players, New York Rangers center Dominic Moore (Harvard) won this year's Bill Masterton Trophy for "perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey", helping New York to the Stanley Cup Final after taking last season off to care for his wife, Katie, before she passed away due to liver cancer. Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick (UMass) won the Jennings Trophy for the fewest goals surrendered by an NHL netminder who played in at least 25 regular-season games. Quick gave up just 100 goals in 49 outings as the Kings ultimately went on to win their second Stanley Cup title in three years.