Steve McKenna
Steve McKenna ( born August 21, 1973 in Toronto, Ontario ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Most recently, he coached the HC Alleghe of Italy's Serie A1. During his career he played for the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League.
Career
McKenna played as a teenager between 1990 and 1993 in the Canadian junior leagues tiefklassigen, including the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. In the summer of 1993, he joined at the age of 20 years to the Merrimack College, the University of team he went three years in the Hockey East, a league game in the operation of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, on the ice. After the ungedraftete defender from year to year was able to increase, it was in May 1996, taken after the college season as a free agent by the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League contract.
In his first year as a pro came the 2.03 meter Canadians to nine inserts for the Kings in the NHL, but was used mainly in the farm team Phoenix Roadrunners of the International Hockey League. For the following season, however, he fought his way to a place in the NHL squad and so came on 62 missions in the game year 1997/ 98, in which the Enforcer was able to record eight scorer points. Despite the strong season McKenna was used in the two seasons between 1998 and 2000 only 66 times and found himself mostly as a reservist in the stands again. Therefore, he remained ahead of the NHL Expansion Draft 2000 unprotected and was chosen by the newly formed Minnesota Wild. Also in Minnesota McKenna frequently filled the role of reservists and, after only 20 games for the Wild in January 2001 in exchange for Roman Šimíček to the Pittsburgh Penguins. There he was used regularly in the sequence, but the team was due to his expiring contract not true, but signed a one-year contract with the New York Rangers as a free agent. For this he filled in the 2001/ 02 season in 54 official matches again the role of enforcer, before he returned in the summer of 2002 for two years on the Penguins. In its second commitment in Pittsburgh McKenna won in the first year primarily for his marksmanship when he achieved nine goals in 79 matches and prepare another could. Nevertheless, he got in the 2003 /04 much less inserts. The 49 missions in this game year also were his last in the NHL in whose history he went after the Slovaks Zdeno Chára as the second greatest player of all time.
Due to the lockout of the NHL season 2004/ 05 McKenna moved in October 2004 to Europe, where he played for the Nottingham Panthers of the British Elite Ice Hockey League. He focused more on the playful element for the first time and posted by in 49 games 21 points scorer and only 26 penalty minutes. In May 2005, it eventually drove him to Australia, where he ran aground in the Australian Ice Hockey League for the Adelaide Avalanche and with 19 points from 19 games continue to convince knew. McKenna returned to the 2005/06 season but returned to Europe and hired the HC Alleghe in the Italian Serie A from. There, too, he was just a game time active since he joined in the summer of 2006 in the Asia League Ice Hockey to play for the South Korean representative Kangwon Land, which renamed itself in High1 in the following year. Through his NHL experience was the defender, who has played as one of only very few hockey players active on five continents, the most sought after players of the others in development league. After two years with the South Koreans took him in the summer of 2008, the League rival China Sharks under contract. The cooperation partner of the San Jose Sharks of the NHL hoped that through the commitment of the experienced McKenna's another positive step forward in its promotion project of the Chinese ice hockey because it is designed to support the local head coach as playing assistant coach.
Around the same time, to which he had moved in 2006 to South Korea, McKenna had already accepted his first coaching job with the post of head coach of the Australian national team. After a second place finish at the World Championships Division II in 2007, when the team had failed short of the South Korean selection and had missed the rise, he led the team by winning the World Championship Division II 2008 in the Division I, from which the team However, immediately descended again.
In summer 2009, he signed a one year contract as coach of HC Alleghe of the Italian Serie A1, which was later extended by one year.
Awards and achievements
- 2008 Gold medal at the World Championships Division II ( as head coach )