Elite on-ice vision blazed his path to the American Hockey League Hall of Fame.
Equally important to Keith Aucoin’s rags-to-riches story, however, is his selective hearing. The 42-year-old Chelmsford, Mass., resident refused to listen to his skeptics.
Instead of being distracted by his doubters, the ones who said he was too slow, too small, too unknown, the 5-foot-8, 172-pound Aucoin used the negativity to fuel him. He used that edge to carve out a terrific pro hockey career that lasted for nearly two decades.
“After my first year in college my goal was just to get to the AHL,” he said. “I knew the odds were against me at the time.”
Aucoin did more than just make the AHL — the league recently announced he will headline its most recent Hall of Fame class, capping a stunning against-all-odds career.
Aucoin will be inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame on Feb. 7 in Laval, Quebec, as part of the 2022 AHL All-Star Classic festivities. Also set to be inducted are Nolan Baumgartner, Dave Creighton and the late Bill Torrey.
“It was a great honor,” Aucoin said. “If you make it to a Hall of Fame, you did something right. I got to play with a lot of great players, too. I owe a lot to my teammates. I didn’t expect it. I saw it maybe being more down the line, actually. It hasn’t really hit.”
Aucoin retired as the seventh-highest scoring player in AHL history, a mind-blowing achievement for a player overlooked by every Division 1 college in the country despite a storied Chelmsford High career. No American-born player has scored more AHL points than Aucoin. He is fifth all-time in assists.
“I had to prove a lot of people wrong. That’s the way it was throughout my whole career,” he said.
Aucoin netted 857 points in 769 regular-season games over parts of 13 AHL seasons, adding 87 points over 92 playoff games.
“I never really thought about it too much. But to have that amount of points is crazy when you look at it. I didn’t expect to have the career I had. It felt real good, to be honest,” he said.
In the AHL, he skated for Lowell, Providence, Cincinnati, Albany, Hershey, Toronto and Chicago.
Blessed with keen peripheral vision, Aucoin avoided major injuries despite his lack of size. He skated with his head up and always seemed to know when an opponent was closing in. He had an uncanny ability to avoid major contact, a key reason his professional career spanned nearly two decades.
A terrific passer, he had outstanding awareness and would surprise teammates with feeds other players wouldn’t even attempt.
Saucer passes. Behind-the-back passes. Cross-ice passes to seemingly covered teammates. Creative passes which led to tap-in goals.
Aucoin was also a winner. He won a Division 3 national title in college at Norwich University, was part of a Stanley Cup championship team in Carolina and captured a championship in the DEL, the top German league.
Though Aucoin played in 165 NHL games (including playoffs), netting 17 goals and 53 points, he is best known for his AHL dominance. He led Hershey to back-to-back Calder Cup titles in 2009 and 2010. He was named the league’s MVP after tallying 106 points in 70 points during the 2019-10 campaign. During that magical season, he recorded an assist in 16 straight games, one shy of the league record.
He played in a record-tying six AHL All-Star Classics.
Maybe if he were 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, and not 5-8 and 172 pounds, Aucoin would have played more in the NHL and his AHL accomplishments wouldn’t be so lengthy. But it’s not in Aucoin’s nature to dwell on the past. He played the best he could, at whatever he level he was at, each time he took to the ice.
Aucoin lives in Chelmsford a couple of slap shots from the Carlisle line with his wife, Maureen, and their sons, Brayden, 9, and Nathan, 7.
The boys, not surprisingly, play hockey. Their dad coaches them. Aucoin also serves as an assistant coach with the Worcester Railers’ Junior Hockey Club, a team for 18-20-year-old skaters.
Being an NHL scout down the road is a possibility.
After a record-breaking record career at Norwich, Aucoin joined the pro ranks in the long-ago defunct UHL.
The Lowell Lock Monsters played in the AHL at the time, just minutes from where he grew up. But Aucoin wasn’t on Lowell’s radar until a Chelmsford neighbor of his family, John Demers, who was working as a security guard at the Tsongas Center, began to pester Tom Rowe, the general manager. Finally, Rowe gave in. The Lock Monsters brought Aucoin in for a tryout.
He quickly impressed and an AHL legend was born.
There were roadblocks, of course. After one game in Lowell, a game he shined in, he was asked to report to head coach Ron Smith’s office. Aucoin was told he was being sent down to Florida of the East Coast Hockey League.
It was a demotion. The guy who was never drafted was the victim of a number’s crunch. Teammates drafted in the first or second round, guys he was outplaying, continued to get major ice time and remain in the AHL.
Aucoin was disappointed, but he didn’t complain. In the hallway returning to the locker room, he greeted a local reporter. He told the media member he was being sent to Florida. His eyes spoke of his frustration. But he kept his head up and said he would be back to Lowell.
He was right. He returned to the AHL level a short time later and would never return to the ECHL.
Aucoin netted 16 points in 30 games for Lowell during the 2001-02 campaign. He returned to the Tsongas Center and the Lock Monsters for much of the 2005-06 season. Now he was an AHL star.
A young man in the stands was watching Aucoin’s every move that winter. Aucoin, who tallied 85 points in 72 games, made a major impression on a young hockey player from Aucoin’s hometown. Jack Eichel, who grew up in Chelmsford not far from the Aucoin family, loved going to Lock Monsters’ games with his father, Bob. The young Eichel looked up to Aucoin even before he turned pro. He received signed sticks from Aucoin from his days at Norwich.
Eichel loved the way Aucoin processed the game. Aucoin was from Chelmsford. He played professional hockey. Why couldn’t Eichel do the same?
“Jack really looked up to Keith a lot when he was a kid,” Bob Eichel said. “That’s his guy. He copied a lot of stuff he did. He’s the best. He was a great kid. Still is.”
Aucoin, the guy no one wanted out of Chelmsford High School, said it’s unfathomable that Jack Eichel, one of the top players in the world, idolized him growing up.
Aucoin is glad he played well early in his AHL career. Given his size and lack of pedigree, there’s no guarantee he would have been given a second chance to shine in the AHL.
Aucoin grew up watching Craig Janney and Adam Oates. He loved the way they passed the puck. Now he wants his sons to watch Patrice Bergeron, the Bruins captain, the way he plays in all three zones.
Aucoin and Bergeron were teammates on the 2004-05 Providence Bruins. Bergeron was just 19.
“I learned from the best. Patrice Bergeron is probably the nicest guy in hockey. He played all three zones as a 19-year-old. That’s why he’s great today. He’s just a great person. He treated my mom great. After every game he would give her a hug. He was probably my mom’s favorite player. More than me, I think,” he quipped.
Aucoin, Bergeron and Andy Hilbert formed an imposing line that season in Providence. The trio filled up box scores all winter.
Aucoin outscored Bergeron that season, 66 points to 61, but Aucoin came away marveling at Bergeron’s all-around game. How could someone so young excel in all three zones?
Aucoin also learned valuable lessons from teammates like John Tavares, Alex Ovechkin and Eric Staal.
Aucoin’s 17-year professional career did not end quietly. He led the DEL, the top professional league in Germany, in scoring in his final season, the 2017-18 campaign, when he notched 64 points in 52 games.
“I loved to play. I was making a really good living at it,” he said.
He could have kept playing. The money was good. His family enjoyed Germany. But his boys were getting older and he wanted to spend more time with his family.
So he hung up the skates knowing a couple more productive seasons were likely. He moved back to his hometown. He has no regrets.
During a recent afternoon, Aucoin picked up Brayden and Nathan from school. They rushed home. Minutes later they jumped in a car. Hockey practice in Tyngsboro awaited. It’s a hectic day. It will be a tight squeeze.
The odds were against Keith Aucoin making it to Skate 3 on time. That’s OK. He has a history of proving his doubters wrong.
