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The Buffalo native was drafted by the Sabres 52nd overall in 2013 and began his pro career with the Sabres and Amerks. Enter your email below and we'll send you another email. It's like a catch-22.". TM: I knew John because we were teammates, we were roommates, and it seemed out of character for him. Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted. Obviously, I know Im on the back 9 - if you want to compare it to golf. TM: Its wonderful. When he was still a toddler, his family moved to the Toronto area. Carbonneau, a Hall of Famer who played and coached for the Canadiens and now works as an analyst, remembers Saunders as an honest player and hard worker someone who could do pretty much anything on the ice and served as a veteran presence on the team. Just like society as a whole, the hockey community still has a lot of hard work to do. At the age of 20, Tony signed a contract with the now defunct World Hockey Associations (WHA) team in Birmingham, Alabama only to see the owner illegally renege on the deal after fans threatened to boycott the team for having added a black player to its roster. People had a certain amount of respect for us athletically.". Go inside the Hockey Reference Database. Hockey-Reference utilizes Official NHL data for current NHL seasons. Never fully comfortable: Maple Leafs Kerfoot and the trade he dodged, Canucks commit to re-tooling over re-building with Hronek addition, On a career heater, Nugent-Hopkins four-point night helps Oilers ground Jets. Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. But by capitalizing on circumstances known by few, he has become an example for blacks who would aspire to playing in the National Hockey League. After scoring 36 goals for the Sabres in 1982-83, McKegney was traded to the Quebec Nordiques. The judge ordered McKegney, while on probation, to complete all assessments, counselling and treatments directed by his probation supervisor to deal with issues arising from domestic. Brother: Ian McKegney The McKegney brothers (l-r), Mike, Tony, Ian and friends on their backyard rink in Sarnia, Ontario in 1962. It's the number of Black players who have ever scored 40 goals in an NHL season. "I believe if he wasn't a black individual he would have played [more] in the NHL. But Jarrett believes Saunders deserved to be there. More Tony McKegney videos. Hes been an All-Star. Saunders said at the time, O'Ree was more of a mythical figure than anything else. The Nordiques didn't have a farm team that year, so he was sent to play for the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, one of the Montreal Canadiens' farm teams. But I think sports probably helped a lot, because we were known as athletes and so forth. Keep reading with unlimited digital access. ST. LOUIS (AP) _ If not for an early twist of fate, Tony McKegney would probably not be plying his talents in a sport that is essentially all white. The hockey portion and the support from teammates and my parents and other hockey parents all the way along got me through it. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, City mourns Buffalo firefighter Jason Arno as investigation into fatal fire launches, Buffalo firefighter makes 'ultimate sacrifice' in blaze that may have sparked backdraft, Paula's Donuts to move Clarence store that faced backlash for tax breaks to Amherst, Vandal damages 'brokenhearted' Russell Salvatore's tribute park in Lancaster, Chad Hall's departure from Buffalo Bills to Jaguars remains a bit of a mystery. NHL.com is the official web site of the National Hockey League. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. But sometimes it comes back to haunt you. Do you have a blog? It was never published. Right before he went to college, Mike Marson and Bill Riley, the second and third black men in the NHL, made their debuts. Bernie Saunders, one of the NHL's first black players, never thought he would find himself coaching youth hockey. Tony was born on February 15, 1958 in Montreal, Quebec.. Tony is one of the famous and trending celeb who is popular for being a Ice Hockey. But the homeowner's and the coach's comments were unwelcomed reminders that people were constantly viewing me through the lens of my race -- even when I just wanted to be a home renter, or a hockey player. "I got a lot of feedback from people in Canada that they were accepted in the schoolyard or outdoor rink because they could point to me as being a person of color playing in the National Hockey League. Last seen in the 1992-1993 season with the San Diego Gulls (IHL). It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. Buffalo looks to bounce back with a clean slate against another tough team. His first encounter with racism happened while he was playing junior hockey after his family moved to Ajax, Ont., during his senior year of high school. I loved basketball, football, baseball, golf. There were five centermen on that team who were great passers, and when you're playing with so many good centermen, you're going to get chances every game. Take control of your EliteProspects profile! He became a standout in hockey while playing junior, scoring 135 points in 66 games in 1976-77. Find out more. Thats basically what got me where I am today., Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. So I did the only thing I could do: I focused on perseverance. Audience Relations, CBC P.O. I tried to, basically, suppress a lot of those feelings back then, and I just buried a lot of things. I didnt talk to many people about it. And the NHL has done a great job with helping. "I was just this shy, quiet kid in Chteauguay. SN: Trevor was able to persevere. 2023 Getty Images. Jets on Sportsnet, Marchment, Pavelski end droughts as Stars dominate Avalanche, Cooper on benching Stamkos, Kucherov, Point: 'Weren't giving us the best chance to win', Bertuzzi sets up goal, Bruins stretch winning-streak in win over Rangers, Lightning fall to Sabres, bench Kucherov, Stamkos, Point for third period, {* backButton *} "Tony McKegney showed me it was possible for someone like me to play in the NHL," future Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla said in author Cecil Harris' book, "Breaking The Ice, The Black Experience in Professional Hockey." "He set the example. Jets, Hockey Night in Canada: Maple Leafs vs. Canucks on Sportsnet, Hockey Night in Canada: Oilers vs. SN: How has it impacted you as youve moved on from the game? TM: He brought up a lot of memories for me, ugly memories. He played six games and didn't score, but played well. . His older brother John was the first to lace up skates. Tony McKegney (front, second from r.) and his Sarnia Bees teammates of the Western Ontario Junior B Hockey League in 1973. But hockey was a window of opportunity because we saw people from our area making it. Saunders says it's tremendous. TM: We never really talked about it much. Don't miss out - sign up for our newsletters! I wanted to be the best hockey player from my hometown. You may have created an account with another Rogers Media account that can be used to sign in here. There isnt enough recent news in your lineup. Two years ago, when he scored 15 times and had 25 assists, was the only season he scored fewer than 23 goals or compiled fewer than 45 points. He said, Just turn on the red light, which means scoring a goal. Tony currently does periodic work on behalf of the Red Wings Alumni Association and the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team. After playing for Pickering, Saunders got a full scholarship to Western Michigan University and played there for four years. McKegney was arrested June 23 and pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal contempt on July 8, according to court records. I always said that the game is tough enough as it is just trying to survive and make it outside of having that stuff on the sidelines. Saunders was a shy, quiet kid with a remarkable work ethic, Bassin recalls. He is to appear in court in Belleville, Ontario, on May 18. Tony was adopted by the McKegney family when he was an infant. McKegney was 20, playing junior hockey for Kingston in the Ontario Hockey Association, when the Buffalo Sabres made him their second-round choice in the 1978 draft. McKegney recalls no special obstacles for him or his two adoptive brothers, who are also black, as they were growing up with a racially mixed family in a city of 50,000. They were there for me for the most part. With a Premium subscription, you'll get access to over 30 tools, features and benefits. It made me angry, made me sad. ago] Height 6.01 -- Weight 200 [185 cm/91 kg] Drafted by Buffalo Sabres - round 2 #32 overall 1978 NHL Amateur Draft Regular Season Playoffs; All Rights Reserved. It's not the 40 goals I scored. He was a role model." Embed from Getty Images Getty Images Sport Graig Abel Contents 1 Playing Career 2 Post-Playing Career 3 Career Statistics 4 Accolades 5 Personal Life Playing Career He was a 4x 30-goal scorer and set career highs in 1988 with 40 goals and 78 points. Jarome Iginla. When you and your teammates compete together, practice together, eat together, and grow up together, you start to see people for who they are. Instead, he was drafted 32nd-overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 1978 and went on to score over 320 goals. Important: An official team/league url or a team document must be provided for us to update player stats. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. All Rights Reserved. 710K subscribers Tony McKegney is one of the pioneers of breaking the colour barrier within the NHL. A t-shirt with this logo is available for purchase here, with a portion of proceeds going to Breaking Barriers. Looking back on his incredible career and contribution, McKegney shared with me the pleasure, pain and purpose hockey brought to his life. One referee, trying to break up the scuffle, grabbed Jonathan from behind. The second person to achieve (and ultimately surpass) this milestone? Before Jarome was an NHL superstar and represented Canada in three Olympics, he was just like every other Canadian kid playing ball hockey in the school yard -- except he stood out for looking different than the 'typical' hockey player. But on the ice, Saunders was still alone. Enter Search Term. That is a great start and I am looking forward to rooting for the Black players drafted in the past few years who are going to carry on this legacy. And the support I got from teammates just carried me through some difficult situations. So, there was a lot of black athletes in town in Buffalo. But I always wanted to be, and knew I could be, a dominant player. Pioneers like Willie O'Ree, Angela James and Grant Fuhr will be featured. Any other third party trademarks or copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Join our linker program. He signed with the Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association, but that news generated a great deal of hate mail, etc., in the South. I feel for them all and support them unequivocally. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. The things he went through were things I experienced in my time. My first time playing against another black hockey player was probably my third year in the NHL, Grant Fuhr and Ray Neufeld. SN: When you were playing hockey as youngster, there werent many black faces for you to see when you watched NHL games on Saturday nights. (Tony McKegney, the fourth black player, debuted in 1978). McKegney, a Montreal native who was raised in Sarnia by his adoptive family, was drafted by the Sabres with the 32nd overall pick in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. I don't talk much about the taunts and racial slurs I faced in youth and minor hockey. He was following in the footsteps of his older brother Ian McKegney (who had been a star with the Sarnia Legionnaires before moving on to the pros). At age 5, I started playing organized hockey. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. To see your localized preferences, please enable geolocation services in your browser settings. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Tony McKegneny (c.) with his sons, Dan (l.), and Robert. Next, select your favourite teams and leagues and well show you their latest news and scores in the My Favourites section of the home page. Most of his limited NHL experience came with Buffalo; he also had a brief stint with the Philadelphia Flyers and their AHL affiliate. As part of the NHL's celebration of Black History Month, NHL.com will highlight great moments and important figures in black hockey history each day throughout February. He is vaguely aware of the recent push to change hockey culture. Saunders doesn't want to come off as someone lamenting what could have been. Tony McKegney is a member of famous Ice Hockey list. Jarome Iginla gave me a very nice compliment when he said he felt he was at home on the ice and in the school yard, because he could say, Hey, Tony McKegney, hes playing in the NHL. He felt like he belonged on a hockey rink because I was out there. We present them here for purely educational purposes. These brave athletes are actively changing hockey culture for the better. McKegney spent less than two years with the Nordiques, and had several more stops around the NHL during the next several seasons. It's the kind of impact that wins, losses, and point totals can't capture. Im sure it affected me. McKegney scored 31 goals in 1986-87, 29 of them after being traded to the New York Rangers. Complete record of every goal scored or assisted by the player. Oilers' Mike Green out three to four weeks with knee injury, Islanders re-assign Josh Ho-Sang to Blues' AHL affiliate. Born: February 15,1958 inMontreal,Quebec ca, Draft: Buffalo, 2nd round (32ndoverall), 1978NHLAmateur. The Montreal-born left wing was a big scorer in junior hockey, finishing with 135 points (58 goals, 77 assists) in 66 games with Kingston of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League in 1976-77 and 92 points (43 goals, 49 assists) in 55 games the following season, when he also played for Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship. To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities (except in children and youth-oriented communities). Dont forget to read the Q&A we did with several Black players who spent time with the Buffalo Sabres organization. If you said Tony McKegney, you are correct. Economics and demographics - there are far fewer blacks in his native Canada than in the United States - still keep blacks from following him to the pro ranks. You get to keep that mask on and Im out there for everybody to see. So, I told Grant, jokingly, that I was envious of him. He got out of his contract, went back to Michigan and started playing for the Kalamazoo Wings, an International Hockey League team, while establishing himself at Upjohn, a pharmaceutical company. 1989-1990 Regular Season Fight Card NHL (1) 1987-1988 Regular Season Fight Card NHL (4) 1986-1987 Regular Season Fight Card NHL (1) 1985-1986 Postseason Fight Card NHL (2) 1983-1984 Regular Season Fight Card NHL (1) All Rights Reserved. Boards and the whole thing. TONY MCKEGNEY: I was adopted when I was 18 months old and I moved [in with my adoptive family]. He has no evidence, he says, but he figures race had something to do with it. Back in 1988, I'm not sure if I realized what it really meant. Buy his book. TM: Everything. In this article, we covered Tony McKegney's net worth, wiki, bio, career, height, weight, pics, family, affairs, car, salary, age, facts, and other details in 2022. All NHL team jerseys customized with NHL players' names and numbers are officially licensed by the NHL and the NHLPA. Will the Sabres make some moves today to improve their post-season chances? The next season, his agent Art Kaminsky told him that must have meant the Nordiques wanted to keep him, so he went into training camp intent on making an impression. He believes his call up was a reward for his performance in the minors. They're too neat; too objective. I take my hat off to Grant. Tony McKegney is 64 years old today because Tony's birthday is on 02/15/1958.Tony McKegney currently lives in East Amherst, NY; in the past Tony has also lived in Saint Louis MO, Detroit MI and Buffalo NY.Tony also answers to Tony S Mckegney, Anthony S Mckegney and Anthony F Mckegney, and perhaps a couple of other names. In February 1988, I was interviewed for an article called "Tony McKegney Makes His Mark in the NHL," where I talked about how the season was going and importance of role models. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. TM: I liked all sports. Since then, he has played for five NHL teams - Buffalo, Quebec, Minnesota, New York and St. Louis - scoring a career-high 37 goals in 1980-81. I was the second to be adopted, McKegney, a St. Louis Blues forward, said of the white family in Sarnia, Ontario, he became part of before he was 1 year old. Comments are welcome while open. Its just something I never envisioned when I was growing up seeing five black hockey players playing in the same game. He has three 30-goal seasons. While in Minnesota, he joined the late John Mariucci and Cal Peterson to form an inner-city hockey league for youths. His point production dropped off, but he was still eventually called up to the big club. So Bassin gave him that chance. TM: I just would tell them to persevere. Tony McKegney erased any doubt that a black player could be a prominent goal-scorer in the NHL. So, we laughed about it later on over a few beers. "We just felt like other Canadian boys and wanted to play hockey.". Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Buffalo Sabres Schedule, Roster, News, and Rumors | Die By The Blade, Celebrating Black History Month: Tony McKegney, Game Thread: Sabres vs. We celebrate Willie ORee, the first black player in the NHL, and maybe mention Mike Marson, who was the second, then the conversation shifts all the way to the unprecedented diversity we see in the game today. McKegney was born in Montreal, but was adopted by a white family in Sarnia, Ont. People had a certain amount of respect for us athletically.. With St. Louis, a team decimated this season by injuries, his presence has been more valued than ever was expected. Today we look at former NHL forward Tony McKegney. * Some data is missing to provide a correct summary. He scored a goal in that game and got a standing ovation from the crowd. Youre a great player. As a teenager, he played for Jr. 'B' hockey in Sarnia. Showing Editorial results for sabres tony mckegney. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. SN: How did it make you feel when you saw it? Sabres Memories is presented by BCBSWNY. There were a few other (skaters) that were sort of up and down.. I wanted to be as good as my brothers. by Draft: Buffalo, 2nd round (32nd overall), 1978 NHL Amateur. However, the team now had a new farm team, the Fredericton Express, and the organization wanted Saunders to play there.