[1] He played junior ice hockey as a defenceman on the St. James Canadians,[2] then joined the Winnipeg Free Press at age 17.

He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) then was stationed in Montreal during World War II.

Dutton did not give approval for the paper at the time, but instead hired McKenzie to organize league statistics on a part-time basis.

[2] When Clarence Campbell became president in 1946, McKenzie was hired as a full-time public relations director for the NHL.

Campbell approved the paper a year later, providing that it cost nothing to the NHL or have an impact on public relations duties.

[2] He used the mailing list for the guide to sell advance subscriptions for The Hockey News, priced at $2 in Canada or $3 in the United States.

[3] He recruited contributors with the promise of name recognition and said, "You may be big in Calgary or Edmonton or Vancouver, but if you write for this paper, they'll know you all across Canada".

I've given every ounce of my energy and blood, sweat and tears ever since I started Hockey News and I still sell $40,000 worth of advertising each month".

[4] Red Fisher of the Montreal Star felt that, "Ken [McKenzie] comes on as strong as a crate of garlic".

[4] Stan Fischler stated that was "difficult to imagine" considering the influence the NHL had on its circulation in arenas, but still referred to McKenzie as "undisputed emperor of hockey publishing".

He moved the paper's offices from Montreal to Toronto, stayed on as its publisher and a columnist until 1981, then sold his remaining share.