PHOTO COURTESY STEVE DUNSMOOR
Medicine Hat Tigers rookie Gavin McKenna picked up a goal and two assists in the Tigers' 9-2 win Saturday at Kelowna against the Rockets.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Gavin McKenna hasn’t disappointed through the first eight games of his rookie season in the Western Hockey League.
Having 16 games under his belt the year prior certainly helps, as the 15-year-old has jumped out offensively in his first full season in the league, scoring five goals and 14 points in just eight games.
That gives him nine goals and 32 points in 24 career games, a 1.33 point per game average for a player who still isn’t old enough to drive a car.
The Whitehorse product doesn’t take the credit for the production, crediting his linemates for his early success.
“Playing with (Tomas) Mrsic all year and playing with Macker (Tyler Mackenzie) at the start, he was really good and then Oasis (Wiesblatt) has been on our line and we’ve been starting to build some chemistry,” McKenna said. “It’s definitely good and just as a team we’ve been off to a hot start and probably could have won every game that we’ve played.”
McKenna started his WHL career off with his memorable four-assist debut in the 2022-23 season opener. He added to his early highlight reel with an 8-7 OT winner in Swift Current over the Broncos on Sept. 29, securing his first game winning goal and first career hat trick.
McKenna describes the win as a character victory for the group and illustrates how they need to remain positive on the bench throughout an up and down game. He hopes that game winning goal is only the first of many.
“I kind of tried to pull the defender into the middle a bit and then shoot short side, because the one goal there I pulled it to the middle, so he’s kind of starting to read that I was doing that,” McKenna said. “I just saw the short side opening there, kind of used the D-man as a screen and obviously it went in.”
McKenna leads the Tigers in scoring entering play Tuesday, with Shane Smith (9G, 12P) and Cayden Lindstrom (7G, 12P) tied for second. Both Smith and Lindstrom are in their second full seasons at the WHL level, with the former being 18 years old and the latter a 2024 NHL draft eligible 17-year-old.
Not unexpectedly, it’s the young 2022 first overall pick who has worked his way on top of the scoring charts and quickly led the Tigers’ offence. It’s a product that has impressed head coach Willie Desjardins.
“He just always is (impressive) and you don’t want to put too much pressure on him but he’s just a special player,” McKenna said. “It’s great to see him do that stuff, he’s worked hard in the summer – he puts his time in. So it’s great to see guys get rewarded when they put the time in, but he does have a great feel for the ice and sees the ice really well.”
McKenna had a goal and two assists in the Tigers’ 9-2 victory at Kelowna over the Rockets on Saturday. The game was a return of sorts for McKenna who played one season at the CSSHL’s U18 RINK Kelowna hockey academy. He was hoping to see some old friends and meet up with his agent who lives in Kelowna.
The Tigers’ B.C. road trip is his first lengthy trip in the league and gives him a chance to face off against another rookie shining early in the young WHL season. While McKenna’s 14 points has him leading the Tigers scoring, he sits 10th in league scoring and is in second when it comes to rookie scoring.
Prince George Cougars forward Terik Parascak has taken the league by storm in his age-17 season, scoring 12 goals and 19 points through 10 games. He’s part of a Cougars offence that has three of the top-10 scorers in the league.
Parascak and McKenna have been tied together before, as they both played at the CSSHL’s U18 level last season, with McKenna at the South Alberta Hockey Academy and Parascak with the Edge Academy. The Cougars star led the U18 level in scoring for a majority of the season, finishing with 32 goals and 66 points in 30 games. McKenna, playing in four fewer games, led the league in scoring with 37 goals and 75 points in 26 contests.
Now at the WHL level with McKenna again trailing Parascak on the score sheets, the Tigers and Cougars face off Sunday to wrap up Medicine Hat’s road trip.
McKenna says he’s looking forward to the matchup but is focused on getting the two points in the standings more so than the ones in the scoring columns.
“They have a really good team but we can pull away with a win there if we just stick to our game,” McKenna said. “They’ve had a really good season, Terik has had a really good season. There might be a little bit of a rivalry coming up but just play your game and don’t worry about what he’s doing. Just focus on our team and myself.”
