Jim McKenny

James Claude "Howie" McKenny (born December 1, 1946) is a Canadian retired broadcaster and retired professional ice hockey player. He played 604 games between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Minnesota North Stars, and was known by the nickname of 'Howie' due to his resemblance to Howie Young. McKenny once said that "Half the game is mental. The other half is being mental".

Jim McKenny
Born (1946-12-01) December 1, 1946
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
OccupationAddiction counselor, TV journalist, professional athlete
Ice hockey career
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
Played for Toronto Maple Leafs
Minnesota North Stars
Tulsa Oilers (CPHL)
Rochester Americans (AHL)
Vancouver Canucks (WHL)
NHL Draft 17th overall, 1963
Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 1965–1979

Junior career

Jim McKenny was born in Ottawa, Ontario. McKenny played with the Neil McNeil Maroons of the Metro Junior A league in 1962–63. When the league folded in 1963, McKenny transferred to the Ontario Hockey Association's Toronto Marlboros who won the Memorial Cup in 1964. As a junior, McKenny was considered by many scouts as the second-best defenceman prospect after Bobby Orr.[1] In later years, McKenny spoke openly of his personal life and career being negatively affected by periods of alcoholism developed during his teen-age years.[1][2]

Pro career

Drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round of the 1963 NHL Amateur Draft (17th overall), McKenny had difficulty staying in the NHL early in his career and often played forward instead of his usual position on defence. He was called up from the Marlies to play two games with the Leafs in the 1965–66 season. He was given two other opportunities to make the Leafs teams in the 1966–67 and 1967-68 seasons but only played a total of eleven games. However, on Feb. 24, 1968, he scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win over Boston, which was the second goal of his NHL career.[3] He struggled to stick with the Maple Leafs for several years, attributed to a poor attitude, possibly his alcoholism[1] and his antipathy towards the high-pressure style of coach and general manager Punch Imlach.[4] He played in the minor leagues for the Tulsa Oilers, the Rochester Americans, and the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League. McKenny and Don Cherry were roommates when on the road with the Americans.

McKenny finally became a full-time member of the Maple Leafs during the 1969–70 season and became one of the Leafs top defencemen for eight seasons. McKenny has the fifth highest points total for Leafs defencemen, accumulating 327 points (81 goals, 246 assists) in 594 games, behind only Börje Salming, Tomas Kaberle, Tim Horton, and Ian Turnbull.[5] McKenny was paired frequently with former Marlboro team-mate Brian Glennie, with offensive skills complementing the hard-hitting, defence-oriented style of Glennie. In 1974, McKenny played in the NHL All-Star Game. In 1971, he also appeared in the movie Face-Off as the skating stand-in for Art Hindle.

Near the end of his career, McKenny was sent down to the Dallas Black Hawks Central Hockey League (CHL) for the 1977–78 season, and was subsequently named to the CHL's Second All-Star Team. On May 15, 1978, McKenny was traded to the Minnesota North Stars for cash and future considerations (the rights to Owen Lloyd), playing in only ten games before retiring from the NHL. He played one season in Europe for Swiss and French teams before retiring completely from hockey.

Retirement

After hockey, McKenny returned to Toronto and entered the broadcasting industry selling advertising, and later as a colour commentator for Italian-Canadian hockey games on a local cable station. He also worked as a male model. McKenny joined Citytv as a sports reporter and later a sports anchorman on the dinner-hour broadcasts. At the end of the sports segments, Gord Martineau usually referred to McKenny by his nickname "Howie". While on vacation in 2002, McKenny suffered a heart attack but was able to make a full recovery.[1]

The December 27, 2009 broadcast of CityPulse Tonight (23:00 air time) was McKenny's last broadcast with Citytv.[6]

In 2013, McKenney was inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame.[7]

Personal struggle with alcohol

Jim struggled with Alcohol for much of his career in hockey and TV. He started during his late teens and the alcoholism continued well into his forties. However, with good support and good treatment he has been sober for over two decades.[2]

He now helps other addicts by working as a counsellor at the Canadian Centre for Addictions. This kind of inspiration has had a profound effect on the clients of the drug rehab based in Port Hope, Ontario.[2][8][9]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1962–63 Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons MetJHL 37 5 12 17 43 10 3 3 6 10
1962–63 Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons MC — — — — — 6 1 1 2 8
1963–64 Toronto Marlboros OHA-Jr. 56 7 31 38 102 9 2 0 2 22
1963–64 Toronto Marlboros MC — — — — — 12 1 7 8 22
1964–65 Toronto Marlboros OHA-Jr. 52 7 41 48 117 19 4 15 19 43
1965–66 Toronto Marlboros OHA-Jr. 42 14 26 40 78 14 3 10 13 38
1965–66 Rochester Americans AHL 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
1965–66 Tulsa Oilers CPHL — — — — — 4 2 2 4 2
1966–67 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 6 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
1966–67 Tulsa Oilers CPHL 45 9 19 28 29 — — — — —
1966–67 Rochester Americans AHL 19 3 6 9 10 7 0 0 0 2
1967–68 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 5 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
1967–68 Rochester Americans AHL 46 10 22 32 33 11 2 2 4 4
1968–69 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 7 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
1968–69 Rochester Americans AHL 47 19 31 50 22 — — — — —
1968–69 Vancouver Canucks WHL 18 7 14 21 4 8 5 5 10 6
1969–70 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 73 11 33 44 34 — — — — —
1970–71 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 68 4 26 30 42 6 2 1 3 2
1971–72 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 76 5 31 36 27 5 3 0 3 2
1972–73 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 77 11 41 52 55 — — — — —
1973–74 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 77 14 28 42 36 4 0 2 2 0
1974–75 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 66 8 35 43 31 7 0 1 1 2
1975–76 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 46 10 19 29 19 6 2 3 5 2
1976–77 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 76 14 31 45 36 9 0 2 2 2
1977–78 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 15 2 2 4 8 — — — — —
1977–78 Dallas Black Hawks CHL 55 21 31 52 45 13 1 6 7 8
1978–79 Minnesota North Stars NHL 10 1 1 2 2 — — — — —
1978–79 Oklahoma City Stars CHL 33 11 23 34 10 — — — — —
AHL totals 113 32 60 92 65 18 2 2 4 6
NHL totals 604 82 247 329 294 37 7 9 16 10

Notes
  • Podnieks, Andrew (2003). Players: the ultimate A-Z guide of everyone who has ever played in the NHL. Toronto, Ontario: Doubleday Canada. ISBN 0-385-25999-9.

References
  1. Podnieks, pp. 567-568
  2. Pessian, Parvaneh (14 July 2016). "Former hockey star Jim McKenny shares personal struggle with alcohol, drug addiction at Durham event". DurhamRegion.com. Whitby This Week. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  3. "1963 NHL Draft pick". hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  4. Cox, Damien & Stellick, Gord "'67:", 2004 p.260 ISBN 978-0-470-83400-8
  5. DB. "Hockey DB". hockey db. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  6. Zelkovich, Chris (Jan 8, 2010). "Zelkovich: Radio giant Hewat signs off". The Toronto Star. Retrieved Jan 9, 2010.
  7. STEPHANIE TAYLOR-BAPTISTE, OTTAWA CITIZEN (April 4, 2013). "Five named to city's Hall of Fame". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  8. Canadian Centre for Addictions
  9.  Myself  Loved one. "Jim McKenny". Canadian Centre for Addictions. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.