Don McKenney, a nine-year member of the Bruins and nine-time NHL All-Star who served as captain for his final two seasons in Boston, died Monday. A longtime resident of Norton and Braintree, he was 88.
Mr. McKenney, a Smiths Falls, Ontario, native, played for the Bruins from 1954-63. Passing on a chance to play baseball in the Brooklyn Dodgers system, Mr. McKenney tied for the team lead in scoring in his debut season (22-20—42) and finished second in Calder Trophy voting for NHL rookie of the year. No other rookie has led the Bruins in scoring in the post-World War II era.
Mr. McKenney led Boston in scoring twice more (1956-57, 1958-59), with seven 20-goal seasons in nine years. His career in Boston peaked in 1960, when he led the league in assists with 49 in 70 games and won the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship alongside playing ability.
Mr. McKenney also was the center of Willie O’Ree’s line in Montreal on Jan. 18, 1958, when O’Ree became the first Black player in NHL history.
Traded to the Rangers in Febuary 1963, Mr. McKenney finished his NHL career with stops there, Toronto (where he won a Stanley Cup in 1963-64 as a late-season addition), Detroit, and St. Louis. In 13 seasons, he scored 237 regular-season goals.
Following two seasons with the AHL’s Providence Reds, Mr. McKenney joined Fern Flaman’s staff at Northeastern as an assistant coach in 1970. (He had succeeded Flaman as Bruins’ captain in 1961.) After 19 years in which he excelled as a recruiter in his native Canada, Mr. McKenney followed Flaman in the head job, serving from 1989-91 before retiring. The school inducted him into its athletics Hall of Fame in 1999 and annually gives the Don McKenney Coaches Award to a player “in appreciation for loyalty and friendship to the NU hockey program.”
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Mr. McKenney later served as a Colorado Avalanche scout.
He is survived by his wife of more than 64 years, Margaret; two daughters, Valerie and Deborah; and a son, Scot.