NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers' forward Gavin Mckenna skates with the puck in a drill during the first practice of the Tigers' training camp Friday at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
No longer a prospect, Gavin McKenna is getting ready for his first full season in the Western Hockey League.
The 15-year-old Medicine Hat Tigers forward is entering his second training camp with his first opportunity to make the WHL club full-time. He says this year’s camp feels like last year’s and he isn’t changing anything to prove himself.
“I just want to play my game, I’ve been training all summer, haven’t stopped skating,” McKenna said. “So I just want to play like I always do; no nerves, play with speed and play hard. Everybody here is trying to make the team, no one has a bye. Just have to play as hard as I can and do the best I can.”
While there is no player on the Tigers’ roster who is guaranteed a spot in the opening day lineup Sept. 22 at Calgary against the Hitmen, McKenna is as close as it comes. The first overall pick of the 2022 WHL draft put up four goals and 18 points in his 16 WHL games last season as an affiliated player. He also added a goal in four playoff games for the Tigers.
At the U18 level playing for the South Alberta Hockey Academy, McKenna was next level, notching 37 goals and 75 points in 26 games, earning league MVP honours. Heading into this season, his rookie campaign at the U20 level, he’s just looking to improve his play at both ends of the ice.
“I’ve always talked about how big the league is, so just getting bigger over the summer, I tried to get bigger, putting on weight and then getting stronger,” McKenna said. “A better shot, always trying to get quicker. Just doing all the little things to prepare for the season.”
When not on the ice or in the weight room, the Whitehorse product says he was out on the water either surfing or fishing. When comparing his abilities at either hobby, he says he’s a better surfer but only because he’s not that great at fishing.
“I’m not the best surfer but I’m not the best fisher either,” McKenna said.
With this year’s training camp, which got underway Friday with on-ice practice sessions and a scrimmage later in the day, being the second in McKenna’s young career, he’s able to help accommodate the freshly drafted Tigers. It’s a gesture he appreciated last year and made sure to pass on.
“You just want to make them feel like they’re at home because that’s what the guys did for me last year,” McKenna said. “They made me feel comfortable, talked to me, showed me around, showed me what we do. I try to do my best to do that for them because it just makes you feel like you’re at home. We’re a family here, so it’s good to get to learn what we’re doing.”
Tigers associate coach Joe Frazer says McKenna and the other 2007-born players are an exciting group that will be part of the push for ice time with the returning, older players.
While the focus coming into the weekend is entirely on how the players got better over the summer and how they look to improve on their previous season, there is an importance on the coaching staff improving their habits as well. Frazer says the group always has to be learning and gave an example of the work they put in over the summer.
“Whether it’s at the draft or at the NHL coach clinics, throughout the summer we’re always evaluating how we played,” Frazer said. “It was a great activity, Josh (Maser) broke down all the goals we scored last year five-on-five and then we broke down all the goals scored against us five-on-five. Just to see the trends and whether it confirmed what we thought or made us look at things a different way. There’s always tweaks that happen throughout the summer that will lead into this year.
“As coaches, we’re always trying to get better just like the players. It’s confirmed some things that we’ve thought, there’s certain ways we want to play and that’s not going to change. There’s other things that, looking at all that video, it’s just a couple of tweaks we’ll make here and there.”
Camp continues Saturday with on-ice practices starting at 9:30 a.m. running until 11:45 a.m. A scrimmage will follow from 7-9:30 p.m. The camp wraps up Sunday with an intra-squad game from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Tigers open their preseason action Tuesday when they head down Highway 3 for Lethbridge to take on the Hurricanes.
