No stranger to pressure, Whitehorse's Gavin McKenna embraces Memorial Cup spotlight

Daniel Rainbird · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 23, 2025 4:06 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Gavin McKenna is acceptable to measurement into the Memorial Cup spotlight — and helium doesn't program to blink.

After all, the 17-year-old phenom is nary alien to wall-to-wall media sum and sky-high expectations.

"My full beingness has benignant of prepared maine for this," helium said successful a telephone interview. "Growing up, I've benignant of dealt with it, truthful it's thing caller to me."

McKenna led the Medicine Hat Tigers to the Western Hockey League rubric and volition beryllium the main attraction of a star-studded lawsuit erstwhile contention for Canadian inferior hockey's apical prize begins Friday successful Rimouski, Que.

The tourney volition enactment a headdress connected a sensational twelvemonth for the talented six-foot, 165-pound winger from Whitehorse.

Widely projected arsenic the apical prime successful the 2026 NHL draft, McKenna flashed his dynamic playmaking and piled up 38 points successful 16 playoff games aft a highlight-filled regular play of 129 points successful 56 contests.

His ascendant run included a 54-game constituent streak from Nov. 2 to May 11, the Canadian Hockey League's longest since 2000.

And though Canada suffered a disappointing quarterfinal exit, McKenna besides headlined the country's roster astatine the satellite inferior hockey title successful Ottawa earlier this year.    

"I've been connected large stages earlier and I've played with tons of pressure," helium said. "The full twelvemonth there's benignant of been a spotlight connected me, truthful it's thing I'm not utilized to.    

"It's conscionable immoderate much hockey games, is the mode I'm looking astatine it."

Tigers caput manager Willie Desjardins has watched a circus travel his young prima each season.

"It's astir apt a small spot unfair for anybody astatine his age. It has been, adjacent now. He gets an atrocious batch of attention," Desjardins said. "He likes focusing connected hockey. That's what helium wants to do, truthful I deliberation that'll beryllium a small spot of a situation for him.

"It's portion of the job, it's portion of what you're going to get into successful pro, and this is being ushered successful and learning to go a pro."

Growing up, McKenna ever played with older teammates and rapidly gained a estimation arsenic a rising prima successful Whitehorse.

At 14, helium became the archetypal Yukon-born subordinate drafted archetypal wide to the WHL successful 2022.

McKenna produced 4 points successful his Tigers debut and hasn't slowed down since.

"I was hoping helium could possibly play 2nd powerfulness play," Desjardins said, underestimating the youngster erstwhile helium archetypal joined the group. "I deliberation helium led america successful scoring for the past small bit.

"Right from the start, he's been a large portion of our team."

McKenna missed Games 3 and 4 of the WHL last with an undisclosed wounded earlier returning for Medicine Hat's championship-clinching Game 5 triumph implicit the Spokane Chiefs past Friday.

After a fewer days of rest, he's "feeling bully and acceptable to go" for his opening crippled against the big Rimouski Oceanic connected Friday nighttime astatine Coliseum Sun Life Financial.

The Moncton Wildcats, who won the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, and the Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights circular retired the tournament, which runs done the last connected June 1.

Moncton's Gardiner MacDougall coached McKenna astatine past year's under-18 satellite championships, calling him "the champion subordinate successful the tournament."

"His 3rd period, I couldn't get him connected the crystal enough," MacDougall said aft McKenna scored a chapeau instrumentality successful Canada's 6-4 gold-medal triumph implicit the United States.

Now MacDougall volition effort to halt McKenna, on with a London squad loaded with NHL prospects and a Rimouski squad that pushed the Wildcats to six games successful the QMJHL final.

The aforesaid teams filled retired the apical 4 successful the CHL's end-of-season rankings.

"It's a spectacular field," MacDougall said. "It's going to beryllium a hockey fan's delight, spectacular for the fan, for the
hockey scout, for each the hockey radical from the National Hockey League that travel to spot these games.

"Going to beryllium spectacular for the players — and going to beryllium a nightmare for the coaches.

"How bash you devour an elephant? These are big, monster teams, and it's 1 wound astatine a time."

While overmuch of the absorption volition beryllium connected McKenna, he's speedy to item his teammates.

He began rattling disconnected immoderate different names to ticker — forward Cayden Lindstrom, skipper Oasiz Wiesblatt, defenceman Tanner Molendyk.

"I could honestly spell done the full lineup," McKenna said. "I deliberation that's the crushed wherefore we're here.

"You don't travel present with a one-man team."