Medicine Hat, Alta.- And for his next trick, the Whitehorse Wizard will try to leave the Spokane Chiefs spellbound and help the Medicine Hat Tigers claim the WHL Championship for the first time since 2007.
After all, Gavin McKenna’s 2024-25 season has been nothing short of magical.
The Medicine Hat Tigers alternate captain is pacing his club with eight goals and 27 assists for 35 points in 13 playoff games, pushing the squad to a 12-1-0-0 record over that stretch.
Fresh off of being named the winner of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL Player of the Year with 129 (41G-88A) regular season points, McKenna hopes to hit a new level on the highest stage in junior hockey.
“I think I’ve played in some big games and at some big stages, and I think that’s when I performed my best,” McKenna said after morning skate on Friday. “I know these are some big moments that we’re going to have here in this rink, and I think I’ll be ready.”
You can argue that McKenna has stayed ready for months.
His modern-WHL record 40-game point streak has stretched into a modern-Canadian Hockey League record with points in 53 consecutive games dating back to November of 2024.
The 17-year-old has only been held to a single point once in 13 postseason contests and has tallied four or more points in four games.
Plus, his brilliant shorthanded deke goal and a lacrosse-style lamp-lighter against the Prince Albert Raiders in round two are sure to make highlight reels for the rest of the year.
“You guys see, obviously, the highlights and everything in the game,” Tigers forward and Calgary Flames prospect Andrew Basha added. “I’ve kind of seen him since he came here when he was, you know, 14. The way he’s matured so fast already is… it’s unbelievable. Just to see how far he’s come already.
The sky’s the limit for that kid.”
It’s almost impossible to overstate how much buzz the 6-foot, 165-pound winger has garnered since bursting onto the junior hockey scene as the WHL and CHL Rookie of the Year in 2024.
“The thing about Gavin that’s so unbelievable is how much he likes to win,” Tigers Head Coach Willie Desjardins said. “People don’t know that, and how much he cheers for his teammates. We’ve got clips where other guys do things on the ice, and Gavin is the first guy jumping up and cheering, the very first guy. You don’t get that all the time in players, but he loves to see his teammates be successful. He likes to see the team being successful. The other thing is, he just loves to play. He can’t help himself. He just loves to play. He wants to be on the ice the whole time.”
The projected first-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft was in on all three of Medicine Hat’s goals when the Tabbies roared back for a 3-2 win against the Chiefs in their lone regular-season meeting on January 24, 2025.
Now, he’ll try to recreate that impressive performance as the Eastern Conference Champion Tabbies chase their first Ed Chynoweth Cup since 2007- the same year McKenna was born.
“I know the city’s been sticking with us for a long time through the ups and downs, so we want to give back to them,” McKenna added. “It’s a very rare opportunity to get to play with a team like this and make it to the finals. We’ve been waiting for a while here, it seems like, and so we’ll be ready, and we’re excited.”
The Tigers will host the Chiefs for Games 1 and 2 of the 2025 WHL Championship Series presented by Nutrien before the finals shift south of the border.
Game 1 is set for Friday, May 9 at 7:00 p.m. MST.
The 2025 WHL Championship Series will be broadcast on TSN for fans in Canada, while viewers in the United States and across the world can stream the games on Victory+.
