LOS ANGELES – Colton Keith walked a few steps ahead of Duncan Keith as they entered the locker room, the 3 1/2-year-old carrying his dad's stick and wearing his gloves. For the elder Keith, this is his fourth All-Star appearance. But having his son with him makes this one that much more special.
"He's only three but he has all the teams memorized pretty good already," Keith said. "It's special to have him here, to share this with him. It's special for me to see the fun that he's having and get him to see everyone."
Keith said his son was excited for the entire All-Star weekend, from staying at the same hotel with fellow Blackhawks all-stars Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Corey Crawford to calling Toews "Sir Toes" and joining his dad on the ice for Saturday's skills competition.
"He gets what's going on, maybe not to the full extent but he enjoys coming to the games," Keith said. "The happiest I see him is when he's banging on the glass in warmups and he's already skating on his own. I know he loves it, loves being around it."
Keith said his son's favorite moment was meeting Brent Burns during the Saturday's festivities. Burns was happy to oblige.
"I just know how special that is from last year, doing that with my son," Burns said. "That's what it's about. It's allowing these guys to get in there and get a piece of our life. That's all you want as a father, to allow them to get into that life a little bit. It's just special. It's something he'll be able to carry on for the rest of his life."
As for Colton's favorite player? Nope, it's not dad. It's Marian Hossa.
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"One of his first words was horses, so Hossa was there," Keith said. "I'll take that, though. That's not a bad guy to try to emulate."