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Mike McKenna (ice hockey)

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American ice hockey player

Ice hockey player
Mike McKenna
McKenna with the Syracuse Crunch in 2017
Born (1983-04-11) April 11, 1983 (age 41)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Right
Played for Tampa Bay Lightning
New Jersey Devils
Columbus Blue Jackets
Arizona Coyotes
Dallas Stars
Ottawa Senators
Philadelphia Flyers
NHL draft 172nd overall, 2002
Nashville Predators
Playing career 2005–2019

Mike McKenna (born April 11, 1983) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. McKenna was selected in the 6th round (172nd overall) of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators and played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils, Columbus Blue Jackets, Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars, Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers. Mckenna worked the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs for TNT.

Playing career

Amateur

As a youth, McKenna played in the 1997 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the St. Louis Blues minor ice hockey team. He later played for the Springfield Jr. Blues in the North American Hockey League for two seasons from 1999 to 2001.

College

McKenna played his college hockey for St. Lawrence University, an NCAA Division I team in the ECAC. He played for St. Lawrence for four seasons from 2001 to 2005. He was drafted by the Nashville Predators in the sixth round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

Professional

Beginning in 2005, McKenna played for the Las Vegas Wranglers for parts of two seasons at the beginning of his professional career. During the 2006–07 ECHL season, he compiled an impressive 27–4–2 record with five shutouts. He was named to the All-Star team and finished second in the league voting for Most Valuable Player. He played one season (2007–08) with the Portland Pirates in the American Hockey League (AHL).

McKenna during his tenure with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2009.

McKenna was signed to an AHL contract by the Tampa Bay Lightning's affiliate Norfolk Admirals for the 2008–09 season after drifting from several AHL teams during the previous seasons, including a previous stint for Norfolk during the 2005–06 season. He played better than expected, earning Norfolk's starting goalie position. He had an 11–10–0 record with one shutout through early February, when he was signed to an NHL contract by the Lightning after Olaf Kölzig went down for the season with an injury. He made his NHL debut on February 3, 2009, versus the New York Islanders, relieving starter Karri Rämö. The following day, he made his first NHL start in goal on February 4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, shutting the Penguins out through two periods before losing 4–3 in overtime. McKenna earned his first NHL win and shutout on February 7 with a 28 save, 1–0 home win against the New York Islanders, less than a week into his NHL career.

In 2009, McKenna signed with the New Jersey Devils organization and played one season with the Lowell Devils. That summer the franchise was moved to Albany, NY and became the Albany Devils, where McKenna played one season. He also played two games in the NHL for New Jersey. McKenna's only NHL start of the season was against his hometown St. Louis Blues.

In July 2011, McKenna signed a one-year contract with the Ottawa Senators. He played the whole season with the Senators AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators.

On July 1, 2012, McKenna signed a one-year, two-way contract with the St. Louis Blues. He once again played the whole season with the AHL affiliate (Peoria Rivermen).

For a third consecutive season, McKenna continued his journeyman career and signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on July 5, 2013. He started the season in their AHL affiliate the Springfield Falcons but was recalled by the Blue Jackets on December 3, 2013, after Sergei Bobrovsky went down with an injury. On December 12, 2013, McKenna made his Blue Jackets debut in relief of an injured Curtis McElhinney, saving 17 of 18 shots faced in a 4–2 win against the New York Rangers.

On July 1, 2014, McKenna signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Arizona Coyotes. He started the season with the AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates, whom he had previously played for. In the 2014–15 season, after the trading away of Arizona goaltender Devan Dubnyk, McKenna was recalled to the NHL again where he started one game for the Coyotes.

With the Coyotes changing AHL affiliates to Springfield, MA, McKenna was signed to a one-year, two-way contract with the new Portland Pirates' parent club, the Florida Panthers, on July 1, 2015. He spent the majority of the season with the Pirates, save for a two-game recall beginning on February 29, 2016 and ending March 4.

McKenna began the 2016–17 season with the Springfield Thunderbirds (formerly the Portland Pirates). On March 1, 2017, he returned to the Tampa Bay Lightning organization after he was traded by the Panthers in exchange for fellow goaltender Adam Wilcox. Assuming the starting role with AHL affiliate the Syracuse Crunch, McKenna's veteran experience helped the Crunch to advance to the Calder Cup Finals. He recorded a career high 13 playoff wins, and is tied for the Crunch franchise single playoff win record with Cedrick Desjardins with 13.

On July 1, 2017, McKenna signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Dallas Stars. In the 2017–18 season, McKenna spent the majority of the season with the Stars AHL affiliate in Texas, helping them reach the Calder Cup finals, his second successive appearance. He was recalled by Dallas for the last month and a half of the regular season, appearing in two NHL contests and earning his first win since 2014.

As a free agent in the off-season, McKenna extended his career in agreeing to a one-year, two-way contract with the Ottawa Senators on July 1, 2018. He joined AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators to begin the 2018–19 season. After six games with Belleville, McKenna was recalled by Ottawa. He appeared in 10 games with the Senators, posting 1-4-1 record before he was traded along with Tom Pyatt and a 2019 sixth round draft pick to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Anders Nilsson and Darren Archibald on January 2, 2019. He was waived after backing up Jacob Markström for two games, with the Canucks' intention being to reassign him to their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. He was promptly claimed on waivers by the Philadelphia Flyers as they dealt with injuries to goaltenders Brian Elliott, Michal Neuvirth, and Anthony Stolarz. McKenna made his Flyers debut on January 8, 2019 against the Washington Capitals. He was the seventh goaltender to start for the Flyers in the 2018–19 season in only the 43rd game. On January 30, 2019, McKenna agreed to a 14-day conditioning loan with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He went 2-1 during the stint while playing for an AHL-record thirteenth franchise.

On February 20, 2019, McKenna was waived by the Flyers.

On August 27, 2019, McKenna announced his retirement from professional hockey. Following his retirement, he was hired as a TV analyst for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Personal life

McKenna is a heavy metal fan, stating “A lot of the stuff I like is either thrashy or black metal-influenced — not the really fuzzy, lo-fi Darkthroney black metal, but more modern stuff like the new Behemoth." When asked to pick the top five songs to get "blood pumping before taking the ice", he listed songs from Amon Amarth, Pantera, Anaal Nathrakh, Behemoth and Satyricon.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1999–00 Springfield Jr. Blues NAHL 16 6 7 1 — 879 48 0 3.28 .867 — — — — — — — —
2000–01 Springfield Jr. Blues NAHL 48 18 27 0 — 2743 209 1 4.57 .884 — — — — — — — —
2001–02 St. Lawrence University ECAC 20 7 10 1 — 1122 59 0 3.16 .898 — — — — — — — —
2002–03 St. Lawrence University ECAC 13 1 7 2 — 618 38 0 3.69 .897 — — — — — — — —
2003–04 St. Lawrence University ECAC 27 9 10 3 — 1475 60 3 2.44 .917 — — — — — — — —
2004–05 St. Lawrence University ECAC 35 15 17 2 — 2022 92 3 2.73 .908 — — — — — — — —
2005–06 Las Vegas Wranglers ECHL 25 19 2 — 1 1383 49 1 2.13 .923 4 1 1 173 9 0 3.12 .905
2005–06 Norfolk Admirals AHL 7 4 2 — 1 388 25 0 3.86 .883 — — — — — — — —
2006–07 Las Vegas Wranglers ECHL 38 27 4 — 7 2258 83 5 2.21 .927 6 3 3 358 15 0 2.51 .913
2006–07 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 1 0 0 — 0 11 3 0 15.72 .250 — — — — — — — —
2006–07 Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights AHL 2 0 1 — 0 96 6 0 3.74 .889 — — — — — — — —
2007–08 Portland Pirates AHL 41 24 13 — 1 2269 103 3 2.72 .908 6 2 4 320 18 0 3.38 .886
2008–09 Norfolk Admirals AHL 24 11 10 — 1 1315 65 1 2.97 .904 — — — — — — — —
2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 15 4 8 — 1 776 46 1 3.56 .887 — — — — — — — —
2009–10 Lowell Devils AHL 50 24 17 — 6 2891 119 3 2.47 .921 5 1 4 317 17 0 3.22 .902
2010–11 Albany Devils AHL 39 14 20 — 2 2062 124 1 3.61 .886 — — — — — — — —
2010–11 New Jersey Devils NHL 2 0 1 — 0 118 6 0 3.05 .893 — — — — — — — —
2011–12 Binghamton Senators AHL 41 14 22 — 1 2196 109 0 2.98 .918 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 Peoria Rivermen AHL 39 19 18 — 1 2307 93 4 2.42 .923 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Springfield Falcons AHL 36 22 10 — 1 2106 89 3 2.54 .910 5 2 2 245 14 0 3.43 .907
2013–14 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 4 1 1 — 1 219 11 0 3.01 .904 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 Portland Pirates AHL 52 27 18 — 6 2979 111 7 2.24 .926 2 0 1 41 6 0 8.89 .647
2014–15 Arizona Coyotes NHL 1 0 1 — 0 60 5 0 5.00 .853 — — — — — — — —
2015–16 Portland Pirates AHL 57 33 17 — 5 3256 133 3 2.45 .921 5 2 3 338 12 0 2.13 .918
2016–17 Springfield Thunderbirds AHL 26 9 10 — 7 1550 73 1 2.83 .907 — — — — — — — —
2016–17 Syracuse Crunch AHL 14 5 5 — 3 796 38 0 2.87 .901 22 13 9 1341 60 0 2.68 .911
2017–18 Texas Stars AHL 32 17 9 — 4 1861 82 1 2.64 .909 22 14 8 1371 55 2 2.41 .927
2017–18 Dallas Stars NHL 2 1 1 — 0 102 5 0 2.97 .900 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 Belleville Senators AHL 6 3 3 — 0 353 16 0 2.72 .914 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 Ottawa Senators NHL 10 1 4 — 1 455 30 0 3.96 .897 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 1 0 1 — 0 57 4 0 4.21 .833 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 Lehigh Valley Phantoms AHL 10 5 4 — 0 565 34 0 3.61 .896 — — — — — — — —
AHL totals 477 231 179 — 39 27,001 1,223 27 2.72 .912 67 34 31 3,973 182 2 2.75 .912
NHL totals 35 7 17 — 3 1,785 107 1 3.60 .890 — — — — — — — —

References

  1. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  2. Devils will give goalie Mike McKenna a start in his hometown of St. Louis - NJ.com
  3. Scanlan, Wayne (July 8, 2011). "Sens sign veteran pair to two-way deals". The Montreal Gazette. The Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
  4. "Blues Sign McKenna, Chorney and Ford". St. Louis Blues. July 1, 2012.
  5. "Blue Jackets sign Goaltender McKenna to one-year deal". Columbus Blue Jackets. July 5, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  6. "Coyotes sign Bolduc, Campbell, Hodgman, McKeena and Reese". Arizona Coyotes. July 1, 2014. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  7. "Florida Panthers agree to terms with McKenna, Acolatse and Harper". Florida Panthers. July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  8. "NHL's Panthers recall Pirates goalie McKenna". February 29, 2016.
  9. "Lightning acquire G Mike McKenna from Florida". Tampa Bay Lightning.com. March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  10. "Goalie stats". theahl.com. 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  11. "Stars sign Mike McKenna to one-year contract". Dallas Stars. July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  12. "Senators sign Mike McKenna to one-year, two-way contract". Ottawa Senators. July 1, 2018. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  13. "Canucks acquire McKenna, Pyatt and sixth round pick from Senators". Vancouver Canucks. January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  14. Johnston, Patrick (January 4, 2019). "Canucks in a goalie bind as McKenna claimed on waivers by Philadelphia". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  15. Valentine, Harvey. "Flyers at Capitals preview". NHL. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  16. "Smith-Pelly on waivers; SJS claim Haley". TSN. February 20, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  17. McKenna, Mike. "Please read". Twitter. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  18. Dalypublished, Joe (October 10, 2018). "Meet Mike McKenna: The world's most metal hockey player". louder. Retrieved August 20, 2024.

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