Hockey's definitely not one of the most popular sports in the United States. For the most part, the NHL gets no airtime on national networks like ESPN, essentially restricted to local TV coverage. Regardless of the nation’s disinterest, on a macro level, in the sport, though, there’s no way to question the toughness of hockey players. As a breed, hockey players are usually ruthless athletes who can tolerate a lot of pain.

There’s no better example of that point than what happened to Chicago Blackhawks veteran defenseman Duncan Keith on Sunday afternoon. Keith lost seven teeth after being hit in the mouth with a puck during the second period of the Blackhawks’ Western Conference-clinching victory. Seven teeth!

Despite being hit and making hockey-fan dentists cringe, though, Keith returned to the game. Within minutes. Not only that, he ended up logging an assist in the next period and finished with more ice time than any player on either team to help Chicago advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. That’s undoubtedly badass, showing, yet again, how hockey players are some tough sons of bitches.

Keith’s comments following the game only cement that fact further.

Chicago Breaking Sports: "I just smashed all my teeth out," Keith said as he opened his mouth to reveal the damage. "They numbed it after it happened; they just stuck a bunch of needles in there and froze it all up. It feels a lot better when we win. It would probably be hurting a lot more if we lost."
 
Keith lost four teeth on the bottom and three on top and said afterward he had a long night ahead of him at the dentist.

"I took one breath and it felt like my whole mouth was missing so I knew there were some teeth gone," Keith said. "I saw a couple fall out and I had one in the back of my throat. I could feel it and coughed it out. A bunch of them disintegrated it felt like."

Next time I scratch my knee playing beer-league softball, I’m just going to keep my mouth shut.

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