Jim McKenny

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size =
position = Defence
played_for = Toronto Maple Leafs
Minnesota North Stars
shot = Right
height_ft = 5
height_in = 11
weight_lb = 180
nationality = CAN
birth_date = Birth date and age|1946|12|1|mf=y
birth_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
draft = 17th overall
draft_team = Toronto Maple Leafs
draft_year = 1963
career_start = 1965
career_end = 1979

James Claude McKenny (born December 1, 1946, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) is a retired NHL defenceman and a sports anchorman for Toronto's Citytv. His nickname 'Howie' (often used by Gord Martineau at the end of the sports segment) came from his resemblance to Howie Young. McKenny once said "Half the game is mental, the other half is being mental".

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 the second-best defenceman after Bobby Orr.

He was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Third Round of 1963 NHL Amateur Draft, 17th Overall. He was called up from the Marlies to play 2 games with the Leafs in the 1965–66 season, but only became a full-time Leaf in 1969–70. In the intervening years he played for the Tulsa Oilers (CPHL) , the Rochester Americans (AHL), and the Vancouver Canucks (WHL). McKenny and Don Cherry were roommates when on the road with the Rochester Americans.

McKenny has the fourth-highest points total for Leafs defencemen, after Börje Salming, Tim Horton and Ian Turnbull, notching 327 points (81 goals, 246 assists) in 594 games.

He starred in the 1971 movie "Face-Off", as Billy Duke, with Art Hindle acting as his double in the non-skating scenes.

After being sent down to the Central Hockey League's Dallas Black Hawks in 1977–78, he was traded to the Minnesota North Stars in May 1978 and retired from the NHL shortly thereafter. After hockey, and before becoming a sportscaster, he was a male model.

External links

* [http://www.citynews.ca/shows/personalities_671.aspx CityTV Profile of Jim McKenny]
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