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| 1978 NHL DRAFT PICK |
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Tony McKegney
Selected in second round
No.
32 overall by Buffalo Sabres
Born February 15, 1958
 | Position: Left Wing
/ Center
Height: 6-1 Weight:
200
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| BEFORE THE DRAFT |
Last Team:
Kingston (OMJHL)
Birthplace: Montreal, Quebec (Canada)
Hometown:
Sarnia, Ontario |
 |
 |
|
| PRE-DRAFT
STATISTICS | | Year |
Team | League |
GP | G |
A | TP |
PIM | | 1972-73 |
Sarnia | Ont. Mid. |
-- |
-- | -- |
-- | -- |
| 1973-74 |
Sarnia | Jr. B |
40 | 40 |
55 | 95 |
-- | | 1974-75 |
Kingston | OMJHL |
52 | 27 |
48 | 75 |
36 | | 1975-76 |
Kingston | OMJHL |
65 | 24 |
56 | 80 |
20 | | 1976-77 |
Kingston | OMJHL |
66 | 58 |
77 | 135 |
30 | | 1977-78 |
Kingston | OMJHL |
55 | 43 |
49 | 92 |
19 |
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PRE-DRAFT AWARDS AND HONORS
World Junior Championships: 1978 (bronze medal)
OMJHL All-Star First Team: 1976-77 (Kingston)
OMJHL All-Star Second
Team: 1977-78 (Kingston)
OMJHL All-Star Game: 1977 (Kingston)
Miscellaneous: Rated in The Hockey News draft preview issue as
the No. 7 overall prospect for the 1978 NHL draft. ... Set Kingston single-season records (since broken) for
points (135) and assists (77) in 1976-77. ... Played center through much of
junior career. ... Grew up as a neighbor of Dino Ciccarelli in Sarnia,
Ontario. |
| NHL CAREER |
Debut: October 12, 1978 (N.Y. Islanders at
Buffalo)
Numbers: 8 (Buffalo); 9, 14 (Quebec); 25 (Minn.);
25 (N.Y. Rangers); 10 (St. Louis); 7 (Detroit); 11 (Chicago)
Stanley Cup: Never won.
Playing Status: Retired 1993 |
| CAREER NHL STATISTICS |
| Years | Teams | GP | G | A | TP | PIM |
| 1978-1991 |
Buffalo, Quebec, Minn., NYR,
St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago |
912 | 320 | 319 |
639 | 517 |
|
| CAREER NHL PLAYOFF STATISTICS |
| Years | Teams | GP | G | A | TP | PIM |
| 1979-1991 | Buffalo, Quebec, Minnesota
N.Y. Rangers,
STL, Detroit | 79 |
24 | 23 | 47 |
56 |
|
NHL
AWARDS AND HONORS
All-Star Game: 1985 (Minnesota) (injured,
did not play)
St. Louis Star of the Game Award: 1987-88
Buffalo Goals Leader: 1982-83 (36)
Buffalo Playoffs Goals Leader:
1981 (5)
Minnesota Playoffs Points Leader: 1985 (14)
Minnesota
Playoffs Goals Leader: 1985 (8)
St. Louis Goals Leader: 1987-88
(40)
Miscellaneous: Scored goal in his first NHL game vs. N.Y. Islanders
goaltender Billy Smith. The goal was Buffalo's
first of 1978-79 season. ... Played on line with Danny Gare and Derek Smith
for Buffalo in 1979-80 and 1980-81. ... Missed remainder of 1984-85 season and
start of 1985 playoffs with separated shoulder, an injury suffered during
Minnesota's Feb. 9, 1985, game at St. Louis. The injury required surgery. ...
Named to 1985 NHL All-Star Game, but missed game due to injury. ... Missed
part of 1985-86 season with shoulder injury suffered during Minnesota's Jan.
16, 1986, game vs. St. Louis. ... Was first black player in NHL history to
achieve any degree of star status. |
| NON-NHL CAREER |
Post-Draft Teams: Hershey (AHL); Varese
(Italy); San Diego (IHL)
NON-NHL
AWARDS AND HONORS
WHA Draft Pick: 1978 (by
Birmingham)
Quebec Merite Entrain Award (Best Conditioned): 1983-84
1992-93: Played on IHL regular-season champion (San Diego).
Miscellaneous: Played three games
for Team Canada during 1991-92 pre-Olympic tour, but did not participate
in Olympics. ... Played on Quebec and Minnesota's off-season charity softball
teams. ... Active in charitable work during his playing days in St. Louis. ...
Maintained primary residence in Buffalo area throughout playing days. ...
Invested in Buffalo-based computer graphics company during his playing days.
... Returned to Buffalo and began purchasing and developing indoor sports
facilities in Canada and the United States after his retirement. His massive
buildings were generally used for indoor soccer and indoor golf driving
ranges. ... Was active in Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association and played for
group's charity hockey team. ... Served on NHL's Willie O'Ree Diversity Task
Force to help encourage minority kids to pursue hockey. ... Named to left wing
position on all-time Kingston (OMJHL/OHL) team by a CHL panel in 1999.
McKegney's WHA Fiasco: McKegney went lower than
expected in the 1978 NHL draft because he had announced his intention to play
for the WHA's Birmingham, Alabama, team. His plans abruptly changed when
Birmingham owner John Bassett decided not to offer McKegney a contract.
At the time, Bassett said McKegney's financial demands were too high. However,
it later came out that Bassett was also under pressure from racist season-ticket holders,
who did not want a black man on their team. McKegney expressed shock
over the incident because he had never experienced such racism in his hockey career.
Personal: Full name is Anthony Syiiyd McKegney. ... Younger brother of former
NHL player Ian McKegney and former minor-leaguer Mike McKegney. ... One of
three black children adopted by white Sarnia resident Lowrey McKegney and his
wife. Lowrey McKegney, a former Canadian Air Force officer, had come back from
World War II determined to help orphans in his own country. ... McKegney's
biological father was a Nigerian engineer, who left Tony's mother to raise
their baby alone in Montreal. When Tony was still an infant, his mother gave
him up for adoption. |
| HOW HE GOT AWAY |
| TRADE: Buffalo traded McKegney, Andre Savard,
Jean-Francois Sauve and 1983 third-round pick (Iiro Jarvi) to Quebec for Real
Cloutier and 1983 first-round pick (Adam Creighton) on June 8, 1983. |
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|
SNAPSHOT '78 | | Total Selected: |
234 | | Forwards: |
143 | | Defense: |
67 | | Goaltenders: |
24 | | Major Junior: |
127 | | College Players: |
80 |
| Canadian: |
170 |
| Euro-Canadian: |
0 | | USA Citizens: |
47 | | U.S.-Born: |
47 |
| European: |
17 |
| Reached NHL: |
95 |
| Won Stanley Cup: |
16 | | Hall of Fame: |
1 |
| All-Star Game: |
18 |
| Year-end All-Star: |
1 |
| Olympians: |
16 |
| Picks Traded: |
46 |
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