| Last updated at 8:26 AM on 02/12/08 |
Hockey night in China 
Former NHL defenceman is a true globetrotter
CALGARY
JEAN LEFEBVRE
CanWest News Service
As a cautious defenceman, Steve McKenna is strictly a stay-at-home type.
As an adventurous soul, he's anything but.
The lockout spelled the end of the McKenna's days as a National Hockey Leaguer, but his globe-trotting was just beginning.
Since turning in his Pittsburgh Penguins sweater in 2004, the towering tourist - McKenna stands six-foot-eight - has chased pucks in England, Australia, Australia, Korea and now China. In case you're scoring at home, that's four continents in five years.
"Yeah," chuckles the 35-year-old Toronto native from a hotel room in Japan, where his China Sharks were to meet the Seibu Prince Rabbits. "It's like I'm sitting in front of a globe and spinning it and then sticking your finger somewhere and saying, 'OK let's go there and see what happens.' "
If McKenna is hoping to cover every corner of the world, then South America - the Rio de Janeiro Red Wings? the Buenos Aires Blues? - or Africa - the Johannesburg Jets? the Casablanca Usual Suspects? - would be next.
The travels have meant much more for McKenna than a rainbow of stamps in his passport. For a Canadian kid, treks to Chuncheon, Adelaide and Shanghai foster a broadening of horizons that would have been tougher to pull off in, say, Buffalo, Atlanta and Columbus.
"When you go overseas, especially to Asia, you have to be adventurous," he comments. "It's not like back home. You're not playing in downtown Calgary or downtown Edmonton. You're on your own. You're in a foreign country with a foreign culture and you're a visitor there. You have to remember that and respect the culture. You could just sit there and say, 'This stinks and it's awful and there's only five guys on my team who know my language,' but if you go in with an open mind and a sense of adventure, you can make a great time of it."
The odyssey started five years ago when McKenna was in Pittsburgh.
"I took advantage of the lockout," he says. "I saw other people going over to Europe and I thought I'd give her a shot."
McKenna made his way to England, where he joined the Nottingham Panthers.
After the lockout ended, the so-called new NHL was born. The rejigged league seemingly didn't have any room for the big galoot.
"Everything was going faster and smaller and my time was coming to an end," he says matter-of-factly. "So I thought I'd look around to see where I could go."
After a side trip to Australia, which eventually led to his marriage to Eileena and a gig coaching the country's national team, the Mighty 'Roos, McKenna made his way to Italy.
"I spent a year there," he says, "and then came home (to South Australia) for the summer and we were both sitting around and she said, 'Where do you want to play next? Do you want to go back to Italy' I said, 'Well, I don't know. Is there anywhere you were thinking?' "
At some point, for some reason, the Asian league came up.
"So we shoot off a couple of e-mails," he says, "and got in touch with a team in Korea and played there for two years and then spoke to (China Sharks general manager) Chris Collins over the summertime and he told me about what they were setting up in China. I thought it looked like a great opportunity and so I packed the bags and headed over there."
Joining the Shanghai-based Sharks meant learning yet another language.
"It's coming along," says McKenna. "I wouldn't say (his Chinese) is very good but I'm getting by. When you get in the dressing room and you're putting your gear on and you get on the ice, you could be anywhere. You could be in Ontario, you could be in Europe or China. The rink's the same, the net's the same and the puck's the same."
For the Sharks' imports - goalie Wade Flaherty, who was a former member of the San Jose Sharks, is also on the roster - everyday life is anything but ordinary.
"We eat in this little food court-cafeteria in the university (where the Sharks' home rink is located)," says McKenna, "and you can get a big plate of food for a dollar. Coach (Derek Eisler) and I walk in and everybody just stares at us because you're the only white guys. As soon as you say 'Ni hao' - Chinese for 'hello' - it's just like they saw the Abominable Snowman and they're just staring."
Being a white dude is one thing, but how about being a six-foot-eight, shave-headed white dude?
"They're like 'Oooooooooooooh,'" chuckles McKenna. "Wade Flaherty always gets a big kick out of it when we go to Japan and the people see me and yell, 'Godzilla! Godzilla!' "
Every once in a while, the NHLers realize how far away they are from the luxury existence of an NHLer. A comparison between the San Jose Sharks and the eponymous Chinese squad they sponsor is a hoot.
"You have to show a clip of the San Jose guys rolling in in their nice $80,000 cars," says McKenna. "Then you can pan to the China Sharks and we're riding bicycles to the rink. We have little baskets on the front. Wade has been around for a while and sometimes we just look at each other and think, 'Yep, our careers are heading the same way.' "
Not that he's complaining. In fact, instead of giving the globe another spin, he's thinking about another season in Shanghai.
"Just in talking to Chris and seeing what the Sharks are trying to do, if I can stay here, I'd like to be involved in the development of hockey in the country," he says. "I like the coaching aspect of it. With the national team in Australia, we're in Division 1 this year (after winning the most recent Division 2 world championships), so we're going to take our team over there and see what happens and try to parlay that into some coaching positions."
But he's not quite ready to go to the suit-and-tie full-time.
"I'm playing 30-some minutes a night," he laughs, "so I think maybe I've got another season in the old legs. We'll see what happens."
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