NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Gavin McKenna celebrates after scoring a power play goal in the third period of a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Giants on Oct. 12 at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
It took only one shift for the newest Medicine Hat Tiger to appreciate what fans have seen the last three seasons, Gavin McKenna is one of a kind.
Newly signed forward Carter Cunningham recorded his first WHL goal Wednesday night in the first period of a 4-3 shootout win at Calgary over the Hitmen. His goal, a one-time tap-in, came off a pass from McKenna who deked his way by one defender and threaded a pass through two Hitmen to the wide-open Cunningham.
The play and early experience alongside McKenna has left a glowing impression on the 18-year-old.
“He creates so much time and space for himself to be able to make plays, anyone watching him just knows he’s a special player,” Cunningham said. “To be on the ice on the same team as him, it’s surreal.”
Cunningham’s first goal was the second time McKenna has set up a teammate for the memorable marker, getting an assist on Markus Ruck’s first in the WHL in the 4-2 opening night win over the Edmonton Oil Kings on Sept. 21 at Co-op Place.
McKenna added a second period goal to bring him up to seven markers and 23 points through 14 games, good enough for the league lead and the honour of player of the month for September and October.
He’s been held off the scoresheet entirely just twice to start the year, and held goal-less through the first six games before potting seven in his last eight. He started the year still affected by an injury suffered in a preseason contest against the Red Deer Rebels. Not participating fully in practice but ready for games.
Not surprisingly, he started feeling and looking more free as the puck started finding twine.
“Whenever you get injured and miss games it’s not fun, it can put you back a little bit,” McKenna said. “I just use it as motivation. Every chance I had, I just wanted to work as hard as I could, when I could.”
Not that he didn’t start the season with confidence, but the Whitehorse product is enjoying the privilege of having pressure on his shoulders and he feels more confident this year than last.
“Confidence has gone up, but stuff hasn’t gotten any easier. If anything, it’s gotten harder, guys are keying in on me,” McKenna said. “So it’s good to have guys like Oasiz (Wiesblatt) and Marty (Hunter St. Martin) to play with, I love playing with them. They’re so smart and work so hard. To have those guys on the line, it’s pretty amazing.”
St. Martin, the freshly signed Florida Panthers prospect, is also enjoying the ice time alongside the star forward two years his junior. McKenna has recorded a helper on four of St. Martin’s eight goals this season, but it’s the work ethic McKenna has displayed that his line mate is impressed by.
“He’s been working harder, he always wants more and he wants to win, most importantly,” St. Martin said. “So that’s the biggest thing with him.
“Sometimes, honestly, with some of the top end guys, they don’t care as much to win, but he wants to win more than anything. He’s been a leader on this team and that’s been really impressive.”
McKenna also leads the league in shots with 74, 12 more than the next closest player. He came into the season with the goal of getting the puck on net more than ever.
“I feel like last year I didn’t shoot a whole lot, so this year I wanted to take that step,” he said.
He prides himself in his stick play, extending plays or creating turnovers in both the offensive and defensive zone.
“Takeaways for me and my stick game is a pretty good part of my game, I know it brings a lot more offense,” McKenna said. “If I don’t get those takeaways, then I’ll be back in my d-zone. So it’s good to get those takeaways and kind of create more offense off of it.”
McKenna has led the team on the ice and has been titled as an official leader, being named a member of the leadership group in early October. He dons the A on his jersey during home games. The 16-year-old went into the summer with leadership as a focus and was able to pick the brains of NHL leaders John Tavares, Brent Seabrook and former Regina Pats star Connor Bedard.
“Just to see how they led their teams, when you’re talking to those guys who’ve been through it all, it helps a lot,” McKenna said.
His personal leadership style has been by example, doing everything he can with every fibre of his being to lead the group to success. It’s that want to be the best, to lead the Tigers to the promised land they haven’t been to since 2007 that puts him on another level for Willie Desjardins.
“You have athletes every once in a while that really want to be great, and to be great it just doesn’t happen,” the head coach said. “There’s a lot of work that goes into that. It’s not easy and he evaluates his game. He’s pretty honest with himself and he works at it to get better. That’s what kind of sets him apart and makes him special.”
Desjardins has been impressed by his young star since he saw him play for the Pro Hockey Selects at the U15 World Selects tournament in Nashville, Tenn. in 2021. He likes the development McKenna has made with his shot. The biggest standout has been how much he wants the puck.
Desjardins recalled from the 2022-23 season, McKenna was on the team full-time after finishing his season with the South Alberta Hockey Academy, and the Tigers had a two-game set to end the season against the Swift Current Broncos. They had to win to get into the playoffs and were at Swift Current on the Friday night. A late five-on-three power play gave them a chance to get into a game they trailed 3-0.
“He just comes in and he wants the puck, he gets it. Lots of times you don’t want to be the guy that takes a chance in case you miss, because then the guys are going to be looking at you,” Desjardins said. “He gets and he shoots, hits a crossbar, had his chance. The puck comes back to him, he shoots again and hits the crossbar. Both times he just believed in his ability and he stayed with it.”
McKenna has said he wants to make the World Juniors roster this Christmas, focusing on his even-strength play to make that happen. Desjardins doesn’t like setting out expectations or ceilings on players, but he wants them to reach the level they’re going to.
When it comes to the likely first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, Desjardins says a next step is the ultimate prize.
“There’s lots of stuff we talk about, for him, it’s just continuing with what he’s doing,” Desjardins said. “Then it’s probably leading this team to a championship, that’s probably the next thing he has to do. He’s done lots of individual stuff, now it’s leading the team there.”
