Enforcer McKenzie Is Packing a Scoring Punch Too

Wild Wing did not score the first goal in the Mighty Ducks’ home opener Wednesday night, a 3-0 victory over the Boston Bruins. Jim McKenzie did, at only slightly better odds.

The Ducks acquired McKenzie to serve and protect Paul Kariya. Five games into the season, McKenzie has no penalty minutes--and one goal, one fewer than Teemu Selanne.

“I’m not angling for power-play time or anything like that,” McKenzie said with a smile.

“I know why I’m here. I’m not going to fool myself into thinking I’m here for any other reason.”

In the wake of the worst season in franchise history, one in which Kariya missed the final 28 games because of post-concussion syndrome, the Ducks were determined to do whatever they could to keep their superstar skating. They ordered a helmet stuffed with extra padding to minimize damage in hard landings, and they ordered a couple of enforcers to minimize his hard landings.

Stu Grimson, an original Duck, returned in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes. McKenzie arrived from the Phoenix Coyotes, acquired for J.F. Jomphe.

McKenzie, 28, who made his NHL debut in 1990, never has scored more than five goals or nine points in a season. For Kariya, that’s a nice week.

McKenzie has accumulated more than 1,000 penalty minutes in his career, at least 200 in two of the last three seasons. He has accumulated some smarts over the years, too, according to Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg.

“He’s a real intelligent player,” Hartsburg said. “We feel he can play in some situations other teams’ tough guys can’t.

“He’s obviously going to give us a physical presence. He and Stu are our fearsome twosome, but we feel they both understand the game well enough to contribute in other ways.”

McKenzie wasn’t taking too deep a bow for his goal. At 19:13 of the first period, he shoved aside Boston defenseman Grant Ledyard and shoved the rebound of a Mike Crowley shot past Bruin goalie Byron Dafoe.

Although McKenzie and Grimson are here to keep Kariya out of harm’s way, Kariya was seen throwing assorted body parts at Boston star Ray Bourque.

“He hammered two or three guys,” McKenzie said. “It was great to see. He might have thrown the hardest check anyone other than Stu threw all night.”

The stat sheet credited Kariya with three hits, tied for the team high with Jason Marshall. The stat sheet didn’t credit McKenzie with any hits. Hey, he’s a scorer.