After retiring from a 14-year career as a professional goaltender, former South High Patriot Mike McKenna decided to move his family back to the South High area.
Although he technically didn’t graduate from South High, McKenna said he always considered himself a Patriot.
Recently, McKenna decided to come back to South High for an interview about his life, as well as memories from his time at South High and the Parkway School District.
“Even though I didn’t graduate from South, I still consider myself a Patriot, and I am still close with my friends from South to this day,” McKenna said.
McKenna was a part of the first class at Southwest Middle School and attended South High as a freshman and sophomore from 1996-1998. For his junior year, he left South to move to Springfield, Illinois to play for the Springfield Junior Blues.
Like many current Patriot hockey players, McKenna played youth hockey in the Kirkwood Stars organization before playing goalie for the Patriots in high school. He commented on the change from youth hockey to high school hockey.
“High school was actually one of the biggest jumps for me. Playing with 18-year-olds, as a 13-year-old kid was huge for me,” he said. “Playing at South was a turn in my hockey career by itself. Playing with the older kids, as well as finally having a larger crowd watching. It was stressful for sure, but I loved it”
After graduating from Lanphier High School in Springfield, McKenna earned a hockey scholarship and played goalie at St. Lawrence University from 2001-2005. McKenna also earned a degree in Economics.
After college, McKenna started his professional hockey career. Throughout his career, McKenna has been paid by 15 NHL teams and played for 7 teams, as well as dressing for 2 teams as a backup goalie, which is a National Hockey League record. He also scored the first goal by a goaltender in the North American Hockey League.
One of the 15 teams McKenna signed a contract with was his hometown St. Louis Blues. However, he unfortunately played the entire season in the minors–he never got to suit up with the NHL team. McKenna said that is one regret he has about his career.
“Deep down, it stung that I didn’t get the call that year. At that stage of my career especially though, I never looked back at things with a lot of anger, and I understood the reason why,” McKenna said.“I was paired with Jake Allen, and he was the Blues prospect, and while I feel like I deserved that chance, Jake was their guy.”
In 2018, McKenna signed his final NHL contract to play with the Philadelphia Flyers. At the age of 35, McKenna retired from professional hockey in 2019. After that, he moved his family back home to Manchester, Missouri, and was hired as a TV analyst for the newly formed Las Vegas Golden Knights NHL team.
McKenna said it was definitely “interesting” transitioning from a career as a professional athlete to calling the game on television.
“[The transition] was something I tried to prepare for, by doing podcasts and taking recording equipment with me, to teach myself how to do interviews and get my speaking voice for TV,” McKenna said.
McKenna currently does stints on TV and radio with local media outlets and Blues broadcasts. He said he does have a leg up over other commentators because he actually played the game.
“The little things are what matter, going into the speaking role. Not just stating what the player is doing at that very moment, but the actions that player took, and explain why I am saying what I have to say, as well as being able to give depth,” he said.
McKenna currently lives in the South attendance area, and even has two hockey-playing daughters who will eventually come to South High themselves. Since retirement, McKenna said he spends his time coaching youth and adult hockey, spending time with his family, and developing his talents on the grill.
“I developed a lot of hobbies during my time playing, as well as after I left the league. Cooking has been huge for me and the family. I love cooking,” McKenna said. “I’m also trying to get out and use my mountain bike more, and stay active.”
Even though he has lived all over the country during his professional hockey career, McKenna said he chose to retire in the Manchester area because he always considered St. Louis to be home.
‘While I didn’t graduate from South, I still remember all of the teachers, as well as some of the students in my class. Some, I am still close friends with today,” McKenna said. “Parkway South Definitely taught me a lot, and pushed me closer towards going down the career path I went on.”
