McKeown Signing

Another thing that got lost in the Stanley Cup shuffle was the Bucks' first official signing of the season, rookie forward Matt McKeown.

You can read my story (Try to ignore the name spelling errors, ugh.) for a few more details than what his Hockey DB page has to offer.

Basically, McKeown is a rugged forward type who Coach Ruskowski is hoping will be a little less timid around the net than some of the guys on last season's team and also do a lot of hitting.

He had intended to play at Cornell University but suffered an injury setback and eventually transferred to Division III Fredonia State University (also known as the State University of New York at Fredonia), part of the SUNY Athletic Conference.

During one week his rookie (sophomore) year, he earned Rookie of the Week honors for scoring seven points, including his first collegiate hat trick, in two games. Later that year, he helped lead his team to the SUNYAC title game, where he scored a goal in their 6-4 win.

His senior season was his worst statistically, as he had three goals and eight assists, but he had 21 goals and handing out 29 assists to accompany 103 penalty minutes overall in 72 games with the team.

Obviously, he is one of the guys who is getting signed to come to camp and earn a spot on the team, not someone who is guaranteed one, and Ruskowski is looking forward to seeing what the 24-year-old Niagara Falls (ONT) native has to offer. I'm pretty jealous of the hometown, not going to lie.

Anyway, when his Hockey DB page was last updated, McKeown was six feet tall and weighed 195 pounds, but that could have changed by now. Actually, let's see... okay, according to the Fredonia roster, he's only 5-foot-11. Interesting. You can check out his bio on that site for some more info.

McKeown also played five seasons with four different teams in juniors. There are only statistics available for two of those seasons, during which he had 102 points (57-45-102) and 184 penalty minutes in 119 games.