NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Gavin McKenna dangles a puck around a Swift Current defender in the first period of a 6-4 loss against the Broncos on Jan. 7 at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Sunday’s Medicine Hat Tigers game is one Gavin McKenna had circled on his calendar early in the season.
The 15-year-old top prospect will suit up to play against the Regina Pats and superstar projected first overall pick in the 2023 NHL draft, Connor Bedard.
Sunday’s sellout game at Co-op Place not only gives Medicine Hat fans a chance to watch Bedard but it also artificially puts the two WHL first overall picks against one another, but in vastly different points in their young hockey careers.
Bedard, the 2020 first overall pick, is coming off breaking records while winning gold for Canada at the World Juniors and has taken the hockey world by storm while on a path of selling out buildings across the WHL.
McKenna, the 2022 first overall selection, is leading the CSSHL U18 level in scoring and starting to put his name on the radar after a four-point WHL debut.
“It’ll be awesome, with a sold-out barn it’ll be a bit a little bit of pressure but it’ll be good to see what he’s like,” McKenna said. “I have a couple of buddies on that team as well so it’ll be good to play against them, haven’t seen him for a while. It was definitely one that I had circled.”
He played with Pats rookies Corbin and Jaxsin Vaughan while at Rink Kelowna. McKenna says he, like a lot of hockey fans, have watched a lot of Bedard highlights and took in the World Juniors where the 17-year-old flourished this winter. He says he’s talked to him online a little and gotten some tips from Bedard.
“He’s just said good luck to me throughout the years and he’s been really nice about it,” McKenna said. “He’s a good guy.”
Bedard leads the WHL in scoring with 44 goals and 90 points in 35 games entering play Friday night. He famously has a point streak of 36 games, only failing to register a point in the Pats’ first game of the year. With the South Alberta Hockey Academy in the CSSHL, McKenna has 34 goals and 69 points in 24 games, he’s first in U18 scoring despite playing three fewer games than the second place scorer.
The Tigers are coming off a 6-4 comeback win in Regina, where they trailed 4-3 heading into the third period before scoring four unanswered goals.
McKenna, who will also be in the lineup Saturday when the Tigers host the Lethbridge Hurricanes, says he’s approaching the weekend looking to help his team make the playoffs but knows he can learn from Bedard.
“It’s a huge game for us. Honestly, he’s got that crazy release, so I want to take anything away from that and then just how he plays the game,” McKenna said. “He sees the ice really well so whatever I can learn from that. But the biggest thing is definitely those two points. It’s a huge game for us coming late into the season to get that when we can.”
Head coach Willie Desjardins says it’s hard to compare the two forwards because of their age difference but agrees McKenna can learn from playing against Bedard.
“McKenna is a special player for sure and he’ll create his own page, he’ll create his own identity,” Desjardins said.
“There’s lots he can learn, how Bedard handles himself, what he does with lots of pressure, it’s a big game for him. He’ll be able to see different things he does and why he’s been successful.”
The weekend slate of games will mark McKenna’s 10th and 11th in a Tigers uniform, totalling six points so far. McKenna says with every time he gets recalled and finds himself back in the WHL lineup, he gets more comfortable and even more excited to become a full-time Tiger.
“I’m feeling a tiny bit faster, a little more into the pace of the game,” McKenna said. “Obviously I’ve gotten a lot closer with the guys on the team, so that helps quite a bit.”
Associate coach Joe Frazer says Sunday’s game in a packed Co-op Place will be good for McKenna but also a big experience for the rest of the Tigers to enjoy.
“Last Sunday was a great experience with it being sold out in Regina and playing in front of 6,500 people there.,” Frazer said. “Just just being able to experience a crowd like that, the atmosphere and to know what it’s like to play in those big games. Because that’s the ultimate goal is to win a championship here.
“So hopefully when we’re on those runs, we can get this building packed and that’s going to be the experience that these guys get to have. So it’s just taking it all in and just getting those emotions, feeling it for the first time.”
