Anchorage Daily News

Theoretically, Cam Keith could win the British Columbia lottery during this week's visit to his home province -- and that's about what it would take for things to possibly get any better for the Alaska Aces winger.

As the Aces head into a three-game series tonight against the Victoria Salmon Kings, Keith is savoring life off the ice and on it.

He and his fiancee, Jenner Maher, welcomed their first child last week with the arrival of a boy they named Linden after former Vancouver Canucks captain Trevor Linden, the couple's favorite player. Keith's parents, Craig and Marilyn, arrived in Anchorage from Nelson, B.C., in time for the birth.

"It was so great,'' Keith said. "I couldn't have scripted it any better.''

Between the boards, Keith is also flourishing.

The fifth-year pro is playing on a club with the best record (10-2-1) in the 23-team league. The Aces' eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1) is also the longest current streak on the circuit.

And that's not all:

• With assists in eight straight games, Keith owns the longest assist streak in the league this season and is tied for the fifth-longest points streak.

• With 2-14--16 totals and a plus-11 rating in 13 games, he leads the league in assists and is tied for third in plus-minus and tied for eighth in points.

• He has yet to record a minus rating this season and is the only player in the league to play as many as 13 games without a minus rating (Dan Reidel and Jarret Lukin of Dayton have played 12 games each without a minus).

Keith credits Alaska's hot start for his on-ice jackpot.

"It's just kind of an early-season team chemistry that reflects a lot of guys' personal success and the team's success,'' he said.

After spending much of the last season and a half as a role player for Peoria in the American Hockey League, Keith this season has prospered on the Aces' top line.

He played with sizzling center Josh Soares and point-producing right wing Colin Hemingway until Soares' recent promotion to Peoria. Alexandre Imbeault, who averaged more than a point per game last season as a rookie in Johnstown, now centers Keith and Hemingway.

That first line has been the forward combination on the Aces' first power-play unit. Keith also regularly kills penalties with center Vladimir Novak on Alaska's league-leading short-handed unit.

"I don't think I've ever played as big a role -- especially since I've been in the American League the last couple seasons -- as I have this season,'' Keith said. "I've always been a first-line penalty-kill guy, but I've never been a first-line power-play player.

"Any player is going to feed off that. Getting that ice time tells you your coach has confidence in you.''

Aces coach Keith McCambridge said he hoped Keith would prove pivotal when Keith signed in the offseason as one of Alaska's four allotted veterans.

"He's enjoying being a key contributor to our team, and that's when players thrive,'' McCambridge said.

Keith said the chemistry he developed with Soares and Hemingway, and now Imbeault, reminds him of the Aces' run to the 2006 Kelly Cup. That season, he often played with center Olivier Filion, now with Victoria, and winger Barrett Heisten, now retired.

Even so, the Aces aren't even one-fifth of the way through the 72-game regular season, so Keith knows plenty of work remains ahead.

"There's definitely peaks and valleys in hockey, and hopefully we can avoid the valleys and stay on the peaks,'' he said.

Shuffling the deck

Looks like standout rookie goaltender Jean Philippe-Lamoureux, who has played every second for the Aces this season, will finally get a break.

Chris Holt, who was in training camp with the Aces but has spent the season so far in the AHL (Peoria) and NHL (St. Louis), will join the Aces in Victoria.

Holt went 2-0-0 in Peoria with a 2.00 goals-against average and .915 save percentage. He was assigned to the Aces because of a goaltending logjam in Peoria, which still has former Aces goalie Marek Schwarz and highly regarded rookie Ben Bishop.

Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

ADVERTISEMENT