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Chris Pronger? The guy had a rap sheet longer than Clyde Barrow’s.

Hall of Famers, every one. Heck, Pronger was even hired in 2014 to assist the NHL’s Department of Player Safety (DPS), under the theory that there was no on-ice crime so heinous or sneaky that Pronger couldn’t climb inside the perpetrator’s head and spot the big lie.

So let us now consider the strange case of Dr. Duncan and Mr. Keith.

Dr. Duncan is a superior skater and puck mover, a three-time Stanley Cup champion defenceman with the Chicago Blackhawks and a two-time Norris Trophy winner who, after logging an inhuman amount of ice time in last year’s post-season, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

He is soft-spoken, reticent, a little cranky on occasion, but in his own way, as important to the success of the Blackhawks as Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane.

Dr. Duncan’s evil alter-ego, however, is Mr. Keith, an unstable powder keg who explodes every now and then in an act of ruthless fury that even his exalted status cannot excuse.

Tuesday night, having been deposited on his backside by Minnesota’s Charlie Coyle, Mr. Keith very deliberately and with great precision swung his stick, one-handed, in a giant arc, bludgeoning Coyle squarely in the face with the heel of his stick blade. The thud was almost palpable through the TV screen.

He was issued a match penalty for intent to injure, and was guaranteed a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, suspension to follow.