On March 2nd, the Skate48 committee welcomed the top 50 fundraisers to a celebration at St. Louis Bar and Grill in Waterloo. The event was to celebrate the success of the 29th Skate48 held in February which raised $173,000 for the club to donate back to worthy causes primarily within our community.
Special guest speaker for the evening was Walt McKechnie NHL journeyman and veteran of a professional hockey career spanning 21 years from 1963-1984. Originally drafted 6th overall by Toronto in 1963, Walt didn't actually play for the Leafs until 1978/79. His career spanned 5 leagues 13 teams and 1273 games: AHL 35gp; CHL 111gp; NHL 955gp; WHL 77gp; WOHL 95gp. The highlights were obviously the days in the NHL where he played for 8 teams and 955 games where he amassed 214 goals and added 392 assists for 606 points: Boston Bruins 53gp; California Golden Seals 197gp; Cleveland Barons 53gp; Colorado Rockies 70gp; Detroit Red Wings 321gp; Minnesota North Stars 112gp; Toronto Maple Leafs 133gp; Washington Capitals 16gp.
Walt walked the audience thru his professional career telling colorful stories of the events of the day including his interaction with the coaches and players. Frankly, his stories were sprinkled generously with some down to earth comments and stories that included many of the legends of the game (along with some very colorful language). It seemed that Toronto holds a favored spot in Walt’s career as he spoke fondly of his time with the team that originally drafted him and coach Roger Neilson.
While Walt may not be considered one of the “greats” of the game, he is a key ingredient into its current success. Professional hockey is what it is today due to the journeyman players such as Walt who toiled for years for relatively insignificant compensation (compared to today’s standards). His post hockey career included owning and operating a restaurant in Haliburton Ontario named McKeck's from which he retired in 2009.
Many thanks to all our players, fundraisers, donors and sponsors for making Skate 48 a continued success!