Tom “Hockey Puck” McKenna was ‘The icon of Philly hoops’ and more than just a scorekeeper

Tom McKenna, a fixture of the Philadelphia basketball scene who hitched rides across the region to track statistics at high school and college games, died Friday morning. He was 74.

Mr. McKenna kept score for The Daily News, assisted various teams, and managed to count baskets for three summer-league games at once. His numbers were always accurate, rebounds and all. If there was a basketball game in Philly, Mr. McKenna was probably counting the buckets.

Everyone seemed to know Mr. McKenna, a character best known as “Hockey Puck,” “Hock,” or “Puck” who fit perfectly into the fabric of Philly hoops.

“We’ve obviously had a lot of great players, coaches, and even officials in the area,” said Neumann University coach Jim Rullo. “We also have scores of unselfish people behind the scenes that the fabric and lining of everything that makes the Philadelphia basketball machine work. Puck was at the top of that list. He was just part of it whether you saw him at Donofrio around Easter time, at Narberth in the summer, or the AAU circuit, or during the winter at Catholic League games. He was just that guy. The icon of Philly hoops.”

Mr. McKenna died at his home in Northeast Philadelphia from esophageal cancer, which he was first diagnosed with five years ago. He was the oldest of six children and grew up on Brous Avenue in Mayfair. Mr. McKenna went to grade school a few blocks away at St. Matthew’s, and stayed in the neighborhood for high school at Father Judge and Abraham Lincoln.

He entered the hoops scene in the 1970s as a stringer for Ted Silary, the legendary high school sports writer who dispatched a team of statisticians throughout the city to gather stats for the next day’s Daily News.

“The first time I met him was at West Catholic when I was a senior,” said Ed Palmer, who later joined Silary’s band of stat guys. “Our coach Joe Donahue was like ‘I got the Daily News guy coming in. He’s going to sit with you.’ I said Great. I’m going to meet Ted.’ I get out there and I think I’m sitting next to Ted and at the end of the game I said ‘That’s the guy who writes for the Daily News?’ He said ‘No. That’s his helper. That’s Hockey Puck.’ You don’t forget him once you meet him. He’s so unique. He’s one-of-a-kind. He always had you on your toes. He was just fun.”

Mr. McKenna did not drive but he always found a way to get to a game, no matter how far it was from Northeast Philly. He even traveled once with Roman Catholic to a tournament in Hawaii. Mr. McKenna navigated public transportation but was usually able to get a lift from a coach, reporter, or another hoops junkie. He knew everyone.

“At some point, he asked me to give him a ride home,” former Rosemont College coach Bobby Hughes said. “Once you say yes to that first ride, that was it. You were giving Tom a ride home. I was living in West Chester and he was in the Northeast. We’d be at Narberth and I’d drive him home and then I’d drive all the way back.

“His love of basketball, his love of the players and the coaches, is the same love that I have for the game. We connected over that and that’s ultimately what everyone saw with him. He loved basketball and loved what his role was in basketball. He was probably the best statistician at the scholastic level.”

Mr. McKenna spent years on the bench of North Catholic, keeping the stats for the Catholic League school on Torresdale Avenue. He later did the same for Roman Catholic after North closed in 2010. He kept the book at the Narberth Summer League, tallied stats at AAU tournaments, and dropped into the offices of college coaches. Mr. McKenna was a high school team’s research and development department before analytics were a thing.

“He was the best statistician I’ve ever seen,” said former North coach Mike McCarron. “He was so good with numbers. He would keep the stats for every game for both teams. He was so valuable to me. He was just a genuine human being. He really loved the kids. He genuinely cared about the kids. That’s what I loved about him.”

The Falcons loved Mr. McKenna, even if he cost them a playoff berth.

“We’re playing at La Salle,” McCarron said. “We got off to a really good start in the division and we had to win one more game to clinch a playoff spot. It was a big game. My best player, an All Catholic named Charlie Evans, goes up for a layup in the layup line and lands on Hockey’s foot. Breaks an ankle. We lost the last five games of the season. We laugh about it now but we’ve been through some stuff. I love that guy.”

Silary, who died in May of 2023, was the longtime king of Philadelphia high school sports coverage. He was also extremely competitive, committed to beat his rivals at The Inquirer. His team of statisticians — a crew that included guys named Huck, Puck, Froggy, Sparky, and Amauro — were loyal to Silary. They were always working for Ted, even if an Inquirer reporter gave them a ride.

“We had to go to the PIAA tournament in Hershey and I drove Mike Kern of the Daily News and Tom was in the backseat,” said Ray Parrillo, a former Inquirer sports writer. “We covered the game. It was a late game. I was on the phone calling in the story and I needed some statistics. Tommy was right there. I asked him how many rebounds this player had. He said ‘I can’t tell you. Ted will get mad at me.’ I said ‘If you don’t tell me, you’re going to walk home.’ Right away, he said ‘18 rebounds.’ I threatened to leave him in Hershey and he didn’t want that.”

Mr. McKenna’s task was keeping stats but the game was more than just baskets and assists. He was passionate about the kids who played and supportive of the adults who coached. He loved everything about basketball.

“When my daughters were younger, I would take them to Friday night games when I was scouting and recruiting,” Rullo said. “The big thing at our house was when you saw Hock at a game, you knew it was a big game. My daughter would scour the stands looking for him. Then she’d say ‘Dad, Hocks here. It’s a big game.’ She’d run over and give him a Coke and a pretzel and say ‘My dad’s here. We’ll come over at halftime.’ I just wish there was another halftime where we could do that again.”

Mr. McKenna was also honest. If your son wasn’t good on the court, Mr. McKenna let you down easy and told you your boy had a future in baseball. And if he didn’t think a player belonged on a certain team, he told the coach.

“Speedy Morris was coaching at La Salle at the time,” Roman Catholic coach Chris McNesby said. “There was a guy at La Salle at the time named Paul Burke who played at Chestnut Hill. Speedy is in the stands watching an All-Star Game and Paul Burke is playing in the game and Hock turns around and runs up to Speedy and he’s yelling ‘Speedy, he can’t play for you.’ Speedy says ‘Hey, Hock. I want to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Burke.’ They were sitting right next to him. He could get away with it because everyone loved him. Everyone gave him the pass of love. He said how he felt and everyone knew it was coming from a great place.”

When Mr. McKenna traveled with Roman to Washington for a tournament, he left the hotel early to catch some games before the Cahillites tipped. He was working for Roman but he was there for the basketball. Mr. McKenna was a whiz on SEPTA — “He had a million bus passes,” Palmer said — but he got mixed up while using Washington’s transit system. He called McNesby, telling the coach he was lost.

“He had no idea where to go,” McNesby said. “All of a sudden, I could hear on the phone some guy just called out his name. That guy ended up giving him a ride to the gym. He was that type of guy. He was known everywhere. Not just in Philly but everywhere.”

Mr. McKenna was far from home but he was still “Hockey Puck.” Everyone knew him, even in Washington. And they were always happy to give him a ride.

“We were up at St. Joe’s Prep and he’s like ‘Yo, boy. I need a ride. Take me to West. West is playing tonight,’” Palmer said. “I said ‘Hock, I’m going to West. I’ll take you.’ I was driving a Corsica and it was giving me problems. We’re coming off 76 at 30th Street and there was traffic. It would stall if I wasn’t constantly driving. It stalled and I’m like ‘Ah man.’ Puck goes ‘This is good.’ He jumped out of the car and left me. An hour later, I got there and he was already there.”

Mr. McKenna is survived by his five sisters. Services are pending.