Jim McKenny

Lore & Background

McKenny played junior hockey with the Neil McNeil Maroons and then the Toronto Marlboros, winning the Memorial Cup in 1964. As a junior, he was considered by many scouts as the second-best defenceman prospect after Bobby Orr. Drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round of the 1963 NHL amateur draft (17th overall), he had difficulty staying in the NHL early in his career, often playing forward instead of defence. He struggled to stick with the Maple Leafs for several years, attributed to a poor attitude, possibly his alcoholism and his antipathy towards the high-pressure style of coach and general manager Punch Imlach. He played in the minor leagues for the Tulsa Oilers, Rochester Americans, and Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League. Throughout the mid-1960s with the Rochester Americans, young McKenny and veteran Don Cherry were roommates when on the road.

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. He has the sixth-highest points total for Leafs defencemen, accumulating 327 points (81 goals, 246 assists) in 594 games. 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, he played in the NHL All-Star Game. Near the end of his career, he was sent down to the Dallas Black Hawks of the 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, he 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 the 1979-80 season in Europe—in Lyon, France and Rapperswil, Switzerland with SC Rapperswil–Jona—before retiring completely from hockey.

Reader's Guide

After hockey, McKenny returned to Toronto and began attempting to break into the broadcasting industry, selling advertising and volunteering on the weekends at radio stations CHUM-AM and CHUM-FM. He soon landed a gig as a colour commentator for Canadian-Italian Hockey League (CIHL) games at St. Mike's Arena, working Friday nights alongside play-by-play announcer Brad Diamond on local station CFMT-TV. He was then hired by Gary Slaight at the Slaight Communications-owned Q107 radio station to sell advertising and contribute on the microphone on a show with Scruff Connors and Gene Valaitis. Throughout this time, he supplemented his income with modelling gigs.

In 1984, after longtime Citytv sports anchor Jim Tatti left, 37-year-old McKenny was hired at Citytv. In addition to filing sports reports, he began appearing as in-studio sports anchorman on the daily CityPulse 6p.m. and 11p.m. newscasts. Over time, in addition to professional sports, McKenny devoted a significant portion of his CityPulse segments to covering local Toronto-area high school sports, including the 'Athlete of the Week' feature. While on vacation in Montego Bay, Jamaica during November 2002, 55-year-old McKenny suffered a heart attack following a workout. After being taken to Half Moon Clinic in Jamaica, he was transported by air ambulance to South Miami Hospital where he underwent angioplasty. He has since been able to make a full recovery. The December 27, 2009 broadcast of CityPulse Tonight was McKenny's last with Citytv as the station refocused its sports coverage solely around the younger anchor Kathryn Humphreys. McKenny, at the age of 64, did not pursue further jobs in broadcasting after leaving Citytv, and instead counselled alcohol addicts. In 2013, he was inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame.

Did You Know?

• McKenny's nickname 'Howie' is due to a resemblance to Howie Young.
• He appeared in the 1971 movie Face-Off as the skating stand-in for Art Hindle.
• He has been sober for over two decades and works as a counsellor at the Canadian Centre for Addictions.