NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Gavin McKenna avoids a stick check in the offensive zone in the first period of a 5-0 win Saturday at Co-op Place over the Kamloops Blazers.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Medicine Hat Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins has had lots of reasons to be proud of his star forward Gavin Mckenna since he was drafted in 2022.
But Wednesday, standing for an interview in shorts and a hoodie addressing a dark spot on what has been a brighter than ever spotlight season, filled Desjardins with quiet pride.
The 17-year-old McKenna spoke with local media on the three-game suspension handed down from the WHL resulting from his slashing major and game misconduct in the last five minutes of a 5-3 win Sunday at Edmonton over the Oil Kings.
McKenna was hit up high by Oil King defenceman Josh Mori near the Edmonton bench. The two spun towards centre ice and McKenna swung his stick, with two hands, breaking his stick on Mori’s while the 20-year-old fell to the ice in a heap.
Mori never left the game and since played in the Oil Kings’ 4-0 win Tuesday at Moose Jaw against the Warriors. For McKenna, he received a game misconduct and just the second five-minute major of his career, the previous being a fighting major for a push-and-shove match in the last minute of a 7-4 win over the same Oil Kings on Oct. 27, 2023.
Sunday’s incident was a moment of frustration for McKenna who reiterated multiple times, was not done with malicious intent.
“It’s a tough play, I got hit late, but just reacting, I was frustrated and I had no intentions of hurting him,” McKenna said. “I caught his stick, my stick broke and it looks pretty bad. So just a tough play freak accident, and whether I agree with the league or not, it’s whatever and I’ve moved past it.”
The Whitehorse, Yuk. product was on the receiving end of a two-hand slash from Edmonton forward Roan Woodward in the second period of a 7-4 Oil King win at Co-op Place on Dec. 7, 2024. McKenna was hurt on that play, crumpling to the ice before skating off on one leg to miss the rest of the period. It went uncalled on the ice and by the league, and McKenna returned for the third.
The Tigers forward says he’s disappointed in himself for hurting his team with the suspension and says it’s a reaction he won’t let happen again.
“I just have to make sure I’m controlling my anger, I deal with stuff every game where I have top guys trying to do stuff to me and knock me off my game, so I just have to get used to that stuff,” McKenna said. “It’s just a one-time thing. I’m not a guy who’s vicious or takes penalties. It just sucks.”
It’s a reaction that impresses Desjardins.
“Maybe out of this, it’s funny how tough times reveals character, it’s pretty incredible,” Desjardins said. “He could go a lot of different ways on it and I’m pretty impressed with how he went.”
His head coach hopes it’s also a one-off for the league, with the length of suspension handed out for a play that resulted in no injury.
“I just don’t agree with it,” Desjardins said. “We have lots of good people, but I can’t agree with this one and lots of people will disagree on it. But for me, Gavin knows he’s hitting the guy’s stick.
“I’ve seen one-game suspensions where they cross check guys in the head, or there’s concussions with four-game suspensions and they put a guy out for career. This kid knows what he’s doing as far as he wasn’t trying to hurt the guy. Does he feel bad about it? For sure, he does. He’s an incredible young man. So am I disappointed with the league, I really am disappointed with the league. I phoned them numerous times saying you have to look at this and I don’t think they handled it right. But saying that, I think it’s a one off for them and we have a lot of incredible people in this league.”
Desjardins spoke with McKenna following the game Sunday and says the young star knew he hit Mori’s stick and iterated then that he wasn’t trying to injure the Oil King. He says the league has a difficult job from commissioner Dan Near, Kevin Muench the senior director of officiating and Kevin Acheson, the director of player safety.
McKenna will miss the Tigers’ two-game road trip this weekend, facing the Regina Pats on Friday and the Brandon Wheat Kings the next night. He’ll also be out of the lineup on March 4 when they host the Kelowna Rockets.
The next time he faces the Rockets will be in his hometown, as part of the WHL’s Yukon Showcase announced on Tuesday. The Tigers and Rockets will play a pair of preseason games in September in Whitehorse.
For McKenna, it’s an opportunity he is looking forward to getting to share with both teammates and his family and friends.
“I’m really proud of where I came from, I like to support the community, so for them to get to watch me, when they don’t get to watch me very much, it’s exciting,” McKenna said. “I know Whitehorse is going to put on a big show for the Dub and I’m pumped.”
He’s looking forward to showing off the scenery of Whitehorse while still holding back on his favourite fishing spots.
“I think guys don’t really know how nice it is up there, and for the guys to get to see some of the stuff we do up there, they’re all going to be excited,” McKenna said.
“I know I’m excited and my family is pretty pumped.”
