Background
McKegney was born in Montreal, but was adopted soon thereafter, and raised by a white family in Sarnia, Ontario.
McKegney was born in Montreal, but was adopted soon thereafter, and raised by a white family in Sarnia, Ontario.
McKegney was drafted 32nd overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1978 National Hockey League Amateur Draft. As a teenager he played Junior. "B" hockey in Sarnia.
At age twenty, Tony McKegney signed a contract with the now defunct World Hockey Association’s (WHA) team in Birmingham, just to see the owner illegally renege on the deal after fans threatened to boycott the team for having added a black player to its roster.
However, the WHA’s loss became the National Hockey League’s gain, as McKegney would go on to score over 300 career goals, including 40 in the 1987-1988 season. His total of 78 points in one season would remain the highest ever recorded by a black player until Jarome Iginla"s breakout 2001-2002 campaign.
He registered nine 20-goal seasons in a career that lasted over 900 games. After finishing the 1990-1991 with the Chicago Blackhawks, McKegney would spend a season in Italy with The Human Context Varese, as well as three games with the Canadian National Team.
He would play 23 games with the San Diego Gulls in 1992-1993 before retiring.
McKegney currently does periodic work on behalf of the Red Wings Alumni Association and the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team.