Hamilton Bulldogs head coach Jay McKee, who played more than 850 games as a NHL defenceman, is going into the local sports hall of fame in his birthday.
The bench boss, who guided the Bulldogs to the 2022 Ontario league (OHL) championship and a Memorial Cup runner-up finish, was introduced on Tuesday night as a new inductee into the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame. McKee, 45, was born in the southeastern Ontario city and grew up in nearby Amherstview, the urban part of what is know neighbouring Loyalist Township. McKee was the first grad of the former Ernestown Township Minor Hockey Association (now Loyalist) to be drafted by an NHL team and play in the big league.
McKee, who accepted the honour at a city council meeting, played for the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and St. Louis Blues over 14 seasons between 1995-96 and 2009-10. He played 802 regular-season games and 60 in the playoffs, helping the 1999 Sabres come within two wins of capturing the Stanley Cup (the Dallas Stars won on Brett Hull’s controversial overtime goal).
Some notable recent inductees into the Kingston-area sports hall of fame in the city include Hockey Hall of Fame players Syl Apps, Doug Gilmour, and Jayna Hefford; former Hockey Night In Canada analyst and NHL coach Don Cherry; Canadian Football Hall of Fame defensive end Brent Johnson; and longtime Postmedia baseball writer Bob Elliott, who is a second-generation inductee.
McKee moved into coaching in the early 2010s, joining the staffs of the Niagara Purple Eagles in U.S. college hockey and the Rochester Americans of the AHL, who are the Sabres’ farm team. His first OHL coaching post was on the staff of the Erie Otters during the Connor McDavid years, and was head coach of the Kitchener Rangers for four-plus seasons (2015-16 to partway through ’19-20).
Last season, he oversaw a Bulldogs group that led the OHL in wins (51), points (107), goals scored (300) and fewest goals against (176). Two of the team’s players, including hometown defenceman Arber Xhekaj, whom McKee had also coached in Kitchener, are now playing regularly in the NHL. Xhekaj, who was never drafted by an OHL team, let alone an NHL team, has played 43 games this season for the Montréal Canadiens.
The current iteration of the Bulldogs are rebuilding and are in the penultimate playoff position in the OHL Eastern Conference. Hamilton is a on three-game northern Ontario swing this week, and have home games next week against the Flint Firebirds (Jan. 26, 7 p.m.) and league-leading Ottawa 67’s (Jan. 28, 4 p.m.).
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