Steve McKenna (born August 21, 1973) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player who played both

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

and

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

. He was a veteran of eight seasons in the

NHL 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 ...

. McKenna is currently a constable with the Waterloo Regional Police Service in Waterloo Region, Ontario.

Playing career

McKenna grew up playing minor hockey in his hometown of

Hespeler, Ontario Hespeler is a neighbourhood and former town within Cambridge, Ontario, located along the Speed River in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. In 1973, Hespeler, Preston, Galt, and the hamlet of Blair were amalgamated to form the ...

. He played the majority of his minor hockey career for the Hespeler Shamrocks of the OMHA before playing Jr.B. for the Cambridge Winterhawks of the OHA in 1991-92. The following season, McKenna headed west to play Tier II Jr.A. hockey for the Notre Dame Hounds in 1992-93. After three seasons at

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a private Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. Its campus has grown to a campus with nearly 40 bu ...

, McKenna made his professional debut with the Phoenix Roadrunners of the International Hockey League in 1996. He joined the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

of the NHL during the 1996–97 season, appearing in nine games. He was an NHL left winger. McKenna appeared in 137 games with the Kings over four seasons before entering the

2000 NHL Expansion Draft The 2000 NHL Expansion Draft was held on June 23, 2000, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The draft took place to fill the rosters of the league's two expansion teams for the 2000–01 season, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild. Rules 2 ...

and being selected by the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

with the 37th overall pick. After appearing in 20 games with the Wild, he was traded to 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 ...

on January 13, 2001, in exchange for Roman Simicek. McKenna joined the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

for the 2001–02 season before returning to the Penguins for the two seasons following that. During the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

, there was a great demand for players like him so he played for the

Nottingham Panthers The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. Their main team sponsor is the Nottingham Building Society. The Nottingham Panthers have won four ...

of the

Elite Ice Hockey League The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey ...

(

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

) and the

Adelaide Avalanche The Adelaide Avalanche was a semi-professional ice hockey club based in the Adelaide suburb of Thebarton, South Australia. The Avalanche, founded in 1999, was a founding member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). The team’s home venue ...

of the

AIHL The Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) is Australia's top-level ice hockey league. Established in 2000, the AIHL is sanctioned by Ice Hockey Australia (a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation). The league is run by its own board of ...

(

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

In 2005–06, he joined Alleghe of the Italy, Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

and later in 2006, he played for

Kangwon Land Kangwon Land (hangul:강원랜드) is a South Korean casino and resort company based in Gangwon Province, South Korea. The Company develops abandoned mines, and builds gaming and entertainment facilities. Kangwon Land operates a number of ga ...

in the Asia League, giving him the rare distinction of playing on four different continents. McKenna played in the Asia League until the completion of the 2008-09 season, where he played for

High1 High1 ( ko, 하이원) is an ice hockey team based in Seoul, South Korea. Formed in 2004, the team was initially made up of players from the defunct Korean Ice Hockey League who didn't immediately move to Anyang Halla from the Hyundai and Dongwon ...

from 2007–08 and the

China Sharks The China Dragon () was a professional ice hockey team which played its home games in three cities in China, including Harbin, Qiqihar, and Shanghai. The team was a member of Asia League Ice Hockey between 2007 and 2017. The team was formed in 1954 ...

in 2008-09. McKenna led all defensemen with eleven points, and briefly played with former NHL star

Claude Lemieux Claude Percy Lemieux (born July 16, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for six teams between 1983 and 2009. Lemieux won four Stanley Cup championships during his care ...

before Lemieux returned to the

Worcester Sharks The Worcester Sharks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and located in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachu ...

. McKenna finished his career with the

CSK VVS Samara (ice hockey) CSK VVS Samara (russian: ЦСК ВВС Самара; lit. ''Central Sports Club of the Air Force, Samara'') are a professional ice hockey team based in Samara, Samara Oblast, Russia. They are currently playing in the Supreme Hockey League, the s ...

(the Central Sports Club Of The Air Force, Samara) of the

Russian Major League The Supreme Hockey League (SHL) (russian: Высшая хоккейная лига (ВХЛ), links=no, ''Vysshaya hokkeinaya liga (VHL)''), also known as the Major Hockey League or Higher Hockey League (HHL), is a professional ice hockey league i ...

in 2009-10, scoring three points in ten games.

Coaching and later career

On August 16, 2006,

Ice Hockey Australia The Australian Ice Hockey Federation, currently trading as Ice Hockey Australia (IHA), is the official national governing body of ice hockey in Australia and is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was first established in 190 ...

announced that McKenna had been appointed as coach of the Mighty Roos, Australia's national team. During his time with the Avalanche in the AIHL, McKenna "fell in love with the Australian culture and climate and now wishes to make Australia his home.

McKenna's official tenure as coach of the Mighty Roos started out in 2007, after McKenna completed his playing season with the Kangwonland. He will coach the team during their Ice Hockey Division II World Championships, World Championships campaign that year. McKenna coached Australia in to gaining a promotion to Division I during his first season at the helm of Mighty Roos. McKenna was the head coach of

HC Alleghe HC Alleghe is a professional ice hockey team in Alleghe, Italy. The team plays in the country's second-tier Italian Hockey League and play at Stadio Alvise De Toni. The team was the surprise winners of the 1992-93 Alpenliga. They were formerly c ...

, a Serie A1 hockey team from 2009 until 2012. He later became the general manager of HC Alleghe, holding the position during the 2012-13 season. McKenna subsequently became a Waterloo Regional Police Service constable.

Covid-19 vaccination protest

In October, 2021, McKenna publicly requested that the city of Cambridge remove his jersey from display in the Hespeler arena because of Ontario's policy of barring people who were not vaccinated against

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

to enter municipal recreation facilities. McKenna had previously donated his Los Angeles Kings team jersey to the arena. Said McKenna, "I can’t enter the very arena where my jersey hangs on the wall."''Kitchener Today'',
Cambridge MPP calling on province to allow unvaccinated parents into arenas with their kids
, 2 October 2021

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

*

nhl.com, Aug 20, 2008

nhl.com, July 31, 2008* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Steve 1973 births Living people Adelaide Avalanche players HC Alleghe players Canadian ice hockey defencemen China Dragon players HC CSK VVS Samara players Fredericton Canadiens players Hartford Wolf Pack players High1 players Ice hockey people from Ontario Los Angeles Kings players Merrimack Warriors men's ice hockey players Minnesota Wild players New York Rangers players Notre Dame Hounds players Nottingham Panthers players Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL) players Pittsburgh Penguins players Sportspeople from Toronto Sportspeople from Cambridge, Ontario Undrafted National Hockey League players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in England Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in China Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Russia