‘I love stopping pucks’: Mike McKenna celebrates international goalie day

What better way to celebrate international goaltender day than to have a former NHL goalie on the Rod Pedersen Show!

We had the chance to talk with Mike McKenna about his time as an NHL and AHL goalie. While no longer a goalie in the league, that doesn’t mean McKenna has left the game behind. This past weekend, McKenna got a surprise call from the St. louis Blues to attend practice with the team.

“I just missed it,” said McKenna. “I love stopping pucks, it’s still my passion and I just don’t want to do it in any other setting than a competitive one with really good hockey players with something on the line.

“I don’t want to play beer league and get backdoored by some high school hero. I just want to be able to go out and enjoy the position.”

It had been over a year and a half since I practiced with an NHL team – or even played goaltender. I've missed it. It felt so good to be tired and a little sore last night 🙂

— Mike McKenna (@MikeMcKenna56) November 1, 2021

As a goaltender himself, we had to ask him about some of his favourite goalies growing up, and who he looked up to growing up in St. Louis.

“You know how it is as a young goaltender,” said McKenna. “Whoever is in net the first time you play, you gravitate towards them. It was Greg Millen from the Saint Louis Blues. As a young three year old, that’s who I got to watch, he was my guy.”

 From there, McKenna said he started to gravitate to whoever was in net for the Blues.

“You can go down the list Curtis Joseph, Grant Fuhr, Martin Brodeur and all those guys were heroes to me,” said McKenna. But one player stood above the rest for him.

“The only replica jersey I ever had, was a Pat Jablonksi Tampa Bay Lightning jersey,” said McKenna. “So maybe if we had to go with one guy, I’d go with Jablonski as an all time hero for myself.”

Now a Daily Faceoff NHL analyst, McKenna gave us some thoughts on today’s St. Louis Blues, and the state of the team after winning a Stanley Cup in 2019.

“I didn’t know what the Blues truly had, because I felt the last couple seasons after they won the Stanley Cup that they just haven’t been consistent,” said McKenna.

“The first year seemed like the hangover afterwards and they didn’t even want to be in the bubble it felt like. And then last year they were just up and down, and it seemed like the Blues were struggling to find an identity,” said McKenna.

This year however, the Blues have started incredibly strong, and are sitting at 6-1, with 29 goals for and only 15 against.

“I think in general the Blues have done a very good job at developing from within,” said McKenna. “And it has sped them up. The Blues are faster. They are still a heavy team, but I think they’ve got more of a sense of urgency in them.”

With over 70 games still to be played in the season, it’s hard to judge how a team will turn out in the postseason, but McKenna said the Blues are one team to keep your eyes on moving forward.

“They know they are a team that can contend, and they are just having fun. When you see the product on the ice, there are a lot of smiles.

“I don’t know if they are a true cup contender, but I think they are definitely going to be there come playoff time and could surprise some people,” said McKenna.