16 Facts About Jim McKenny

James Claude "Howie" McKenny was born on December 1,1946 and is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and broadcaster.

In later years, Jim McKenny spoke openly of his personal life and career being negatively affected by periods of alcoholism developed during his teenage years.

Jim McKenny played in the minor leagues for the Tulsa Oilers, Rochester Americans, and Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League.

Jim McKenny has the sixth-highest points total for Leafs defencemen, accumulating 327 points in 594 games, behind only Borje Salming, Tomas Kaberle, Morgan Rielly, Tim Horton, and Ian Turnbull.

Jim McKenny was paired frequently with former Marlboro team-mate Brian Glennie, with offensive skills complementing the hard-hitting, defence-oriented style of Glennie.

On May 15,1978, Jim McKenny was traded to the Minnesota North Stars for cash and future considerations, playing in only ten games before retiring from the NHL.

Jim McKenny soon landed a gig as a colour commentator for Canadian-Italian Hockey League games at St Mike's Arena, working Friday nights alongside play-by-play announcer Brad Diamond on local station CFMT-TV branded as "Multilingual Television".

Jim McKenny was then hired by Gary Slaight at the Slaight Communications-owned Q107 radio station to sell advertising and contribute on the microphone on a show with Scruff Connors and Gene Valaitis.

In 1984, after longtime Citytv sports anchor Jim Tatti left to launch Sportsline on the Canada-wide Global Television Network, 37-year-old McKenny was hired at Citytv.

Over time, in addition to professional sports, Jim McKenny devoted a significant portion of his CityPulse segments to covering local Toronto-area high school sports.

Jim McKenny has since been able to make a full recovery.

In later interviews, Jim McKenny talked about having to borrow US$70,000 from friends in order to immediately cover the US airlift and hospital costs due to not having his Canadian medical insurance information on him.

Jim McKenny agreed to a deal to continue anchoring the sports package on the weekend newscasts for another year due to Humphreys' unwillingness to work the weekends.

Jim McKenny's daughter died in a car accident in 2013.

Jim McKenny struggled with alcoholism for much of his career in hockey and television, starting during his late teens and continuing well into his forties.

Jim McKenny now helps other addicts by working as a counsellor at the Canadian Centre for Addictions, based in Port Hope, Ontario.