Keith Christiansen (ice hockey)

Keith Christiansen
Keith Christiansen
Born	July 14, 1944; Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada
Died	November 5, 2018 (aged 74); Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
Height	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Weight	155 lb (70 kg; 11 st 1 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Right
Played for	Minnesota Fighting Saints
National team	United States
Playing career	1972–1974
Men's ice hockey
Representing United States
Olympic Games

Keith Raymond "Huffer" Christiansen^[1] (July 14, 1944 – November 5, 2018) was a professional ice hockey player who appeared in 138 World Hockey Association (WHA) regular season games with the Minnesota Fighting Saints between 1972 and 1974. Before turning professional, he was a member of the United States' 1972 Winter Olympics team that won the silver medal and also represented the United States at the 1969, 1970 and 1971 Ice Hockey World Championships.

Christiansen was born in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. He played hockey in high school for International Falls, Minnesota then went to University of Minnesota Duluth where he was captain of the hockey team. He is one of the more famed UMD Bulldogs; Christensen is in the UMD Hall of Fame and has his number 9, hung in Amsoil Arena where the Bulldogs currently play. He also played with the Waterloo Black Hawks and Grand Rapids Bruins of the United States Hockey League as an amateur.

He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005. Christiansen died in 2018 at the age of 74 from lung cancer.^[2]

Awards and honours

Award	Year
All-WCHA First Team	1966–67
AHCA West All-American	1966–67

References

^ Keith 'Huffer' Christiansen, U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer, dies at age 74
^ "Former Fighting Saint, UMD, Olympic star Keith Christiansen dies at 74". Star Tribune. November 5, 2018.

External links

Biographical information and career statistics from Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
Keith "Huffer" Christiansen at United States Hockey Hall of Fame
Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Keith Christiansen". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Mel Wakabayashi	WCHA Most Valuable Player 1966–67	Succeeded by Keith Magnuson

[1] Keith 'Huffer' Christiansen, U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer, dies at age 74

[2] "Former Fighting Saint, UMD, Olympic star Keith Christiansen dies at 74". Star Tribune. November 5, 2018.

[1]

[2]

v t e Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Duluth Amphitheater (1930–1932) Duluth Curling and Skating Club (1946–1966) DECC Arena (1966–2010) AMSOIL Arena (2010–present)
Head coaches	Frank Kovach (1930–32) Joe Oven (1946–47) Hank Jensen (1947–51) Gord Eddolls (1951–54) Bob Boyat (1954–55) Connie Pleban (1955–59) Ralph Romano (1959–68) Bill Selman (1968–70) Terry Shercliffe (1970–75) Gus Hendrickson (1975–82) Mike Sertich (1982–2000) Scott Sandelin (2000–present)
Seasons	1930–31 1931–32 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	MIAC (1946–1961) WCHA (1965–2013) NCHC (2013–present)
Rivalries	Minnesota
Culture & lore	North Star College Cup
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders Dan Lempe (222 Points) Thomas Milani (100 Goals) Hunter Shepard (76 Wins)
Retired numbers	9 Keith Christiansen 14 Bill Watson 29 Brett Hull
National championships	2011 2018 2019
Frozen Four appearances	1984 1985 2004 2011 2017 2018 2019 2021
NCAA Tournament appearances	1983 1984 1985 1993 2004 2009 2011 2012 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022
Conference Tournament titles	WCHA: 1984 1985 2009 NCHC: 2017 2019 2022
Hobey Baker winners	Tom Kurvers (1984) Bill Watson (1985) Chris Marinucci (1994) Junior Lessard (2004) Jack Connolly (2012) Scott Perunovich (2020)
University of Minnesota Duluth Duluth, MN