Hugh Randall McKay (born January 25, 1967) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
former professional
hockey player. Playing the
right wing position, he played in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL) from 1988 to 2003 with the
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
,
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...
,
Dallas Stars and
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
. He was commonly referred to as Randy "The Rocket" Mckay"
Randy "The Rocket" Mckay
/ref> for not only his physical playstyle and consistent double digit goal seasons, but also most notably for his "head high screamers" or hard slapshots into the upper corner of the net.
Playing career
McKay was selected by the Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
in the sixth round, 113th overall, of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft
The 1985 NHL Entry Draft was the 23rd NHL Entry Draft. It was the first draft outside Montreal. The event was held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario, and attended by 7,000 fans. The National Hockey League (NHL) teams sele ...
. He split the 1987–88, 1988–89 and 1989–90 seasons between the Red Wings and their affiliate in the American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
(AHL), the Adirondack Red Wings. McKay stuck with the Wings in the NHL for the 1990–91 season, appearing in 47 games. While showing a scoring touch in the AHL, McKay only scored 4 goals in 83 total games with the Red Wings and was unable to find consistent playing time. Following the season, McKay and Dave Barr were sent by rule of an arbitrator to the New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...
as compensation for the Red Wings' signing of free agent Troy Crowder
Troy Crowder (born May 3, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played parts of seven seasons in the National Hockey League with the New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, and Vancouver Canucks from ...
. The deal did not work out for the Wings as Crowder only played in seven games for the team before incurring a serious injury. McKay developed into a solid third and fourth line player that the Wings would later covet in the latter part of the decade. It was a move that Red Wings senior vice president Jim Devellano
James Devellano (born January 18, 1943) is a Canadian sports executive. He currently serves as the senior vice-president & alternate governor of the Detroit Red Wings National Hockey League (NHL) team and vice-president of the Detroit Tigers M ...
resisted at the time and regretted later.
Although a physical presence on the ice, McKay also contributed offensively, with double-digit goal totals and a positive plus/minus most seasons (including +30 in 1997–98, fourth in the NHL). He is perhaps best remembered among Devils fans for scoring the winning goal in Game 6 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals against the Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...
; the Devils won the game 4–2 and went on to win their first Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
by upsetting the heavily-favoured Detroit Red Wings in four games.
On October 28, 2000, in a regular season game against the Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...
, McKay and teammate John Madden
John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, who he led to eight pla ...
each scored four goals in a 9–0 win for the Devils. It was the first time since 1922 that two teammates each scored four goals.
McKay was also a member of the Devils when they won the Stanley Cup in 2000 against the Dallas Stars in six games.
On March 19, 2002, McKay was traded (alongside Jason Arnott
Jason William Arnott (born October 11, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player.
He began his National Hockey League career with the Edmonton Oilers in 1993–94 after being selected seventh overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft ...
and a first-round pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft
__NOTOC__
The 2002 NHL Entry Draft was the 40th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 and 23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Two hundred and ninety-one players were drafted in total: 35 from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); ...
) to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner
Jamie Craig Langenbrunner (; born July 24, 1975) is an American former professional ice hockey player. Langenbrunner was formerly the captain of the 2010 United States Olympic Team, a member of the 1999 Dallas Stars' Stanley Cup championship ...
.
McKay retired after the 2002–03 season, finishing his career in his hometown as a member of the Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
.
Crash line
For a period of time with the New Jersey Devils, McKay was a member of "The Crash Line" alongside Bobby Holík
Bobby "The Geek" Holík (born January 1, 1971) is a Czech-American former professional ice hockey center who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Holík is the son of Jaroslav Holík, a Czechoslovak ice hockey world champion in 1 ...
and Mike Peluso. Head coach Jacques Lemaire created the line to counter the larger skilled players of the Eastern Conference at the time, including Eric Lindros
Eric Bryan Lindros (; born February 28, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Lindros was born in London, Ontario, but grew up in Toronto. He played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Oshawa Generals pr ...
, Cam Neely
Cameron Michael Neely (born June 6, 1965) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. Neely played right wing for the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1983 to 1996. Nicknamed "'Bam ...
and Jaromír Jágr
Jaromír Jágr (; born 15 February 1972) is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger for and the owner of Rytíři Kladno of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, ...
. The average weight of the linemates was 215 pounds, and each skater played a physical and aggressive style of hockey. The trio were part of the Devils Stanley Cup championship in 1995. Following the departure of Peluso, Holík and McKay often remained on the same line, which sometimes included Sergei Brylin
Sergei Vladimirovich Brylin (russian: Серге́й Влади́мирович Бры́лин; born January 13, 1974) is a Russian former professional ice hockey centre, currently an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils of the National Ho ...
.
Other
McKay is a graduate of Michigan Technological University
Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ...
(1984–1988).
McKay splits time between Houghton, Michigan
Houghton (; ) is the largest city and seat of government of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton is the largest city in the Copper Country region. It is the fifth-largest city in the Uppe ...
and Marquette, Michigan
Marquette ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,629 at the 2020 United States Census, which makes it the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. Marquette serves as the seat of government of Marquett ...
as has four children: Riley, Kaitlyn, Dawson and McKenna.
Career statistics
References
External links
*
McKay's OT winner in Game 4 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals
Game 6 game winning goal in the 1995 Conference Finals
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKay, Randy
1967 births
Living people
Anglophone Quebec people
Canadian ice hockey forwards
Dallas Stars players
Detroit Red Wings draft picks
Detroit Red Wings players
Ice hockey people from Montreal
Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey players
Montreal Canadiens players
New Jersey Devils players
Stanley Cup champions