When Gavin McKenna committed to Penn State men\u2019s hockey in July 2025, it was a decision that sent shockwaves throughout the sport.<\/p>\n
Hailing from Whitehorse, Yukon, McKenna was seen as the next great thing in the hockey world. A consensus No. 1 overall draft pick in next season\u2019s NHL draft, McKenna arrived in Happy Valley with sky-high expectations and a level of excitement surrounding his play unlike anything the program had ever seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No. 72\u2019s collegiate career got off to a slower start than many would have expected. After playing at an otherworldly 2.30 point-per-game clip with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League last season, McKenna\u2019s first 16 games as a Nittany Lion saw him put up just 18.<\/p>\n
But following a trip to World Juniors as part of Team Canada, McKenna exploded in the second half, finally living up to the \u201cgenerational\u201d hype that surrounded him. In the 18 games after the break, McKenna put up 33 points, including a record-setting eight-point affair against Ohio State.<\/p>\n
Over the course of his freshman season, McKenna was named the National Rookie of the Month on two occasions, a Big Ten Star of the Week four times, and was a member of the All-Big Ten Second Team. He finished the season as the Big Ten Scoring Champion, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team as well.<\/p>\n
McKenna\u2019s efforts this season have also helped propel him to Hobey Baker finalist status, recognizing him as one of college hockey\u2019s top players. He hopes to claim the crown of the nation\u2019s top dog come April.<\/p>\n
The Nittany Lions have dealt with countless injuries this season that have caused the group to face significant adversity. Over the course of the year, McKenna has played with 10 different linemates. His ability to adapt and mesh with his teammates has provided Penn State with a constant threat on the top line, regardless of who he\u2019s skating alongside.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s played with so many different guys. To put up the numbers that he has, if you compare it to, for instance, last year\u2019s Hobey winning points per game in the Big Ten, it blows that away,\u201d Guy Gadowsky said.<\/p>\n
McKenna\u2019s 38 points on the season were a historic mark for Big Ten hockey. It marked the second-highest total for a Big Ten scoring champion, trailing only NHL stars Kyle Connor and Cole Caufield. Both players tallied 43 points in their respective campaigns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But when it comes to what the freshman phenom brings to Penn State hockey, his impact on this team goes way beyond the stat sheet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the program\u2019s 13-year history, Penn State has never had a talent like McKenna come through the walls of Pegula Ice Arena. As a result, it had to deal with unprecedented attention this season, forcing the players and coaching staff to quickly adapt to the spotlight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
McKenna\u2019s demeanor, from the moment he arrived on campus, helped make the adjustment far more manageable. His team-first attitude created a positive environment that allowed everyone to flourish.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s such a good person,\u201d Gadowsky said. \u201cI know this sounds like a cliche, but it\u2019s not. I am truly going to miss him more as a person than as a player. He is such a great teammate, and he\u2019s so fun and positive to be around. It\u2019s so obvious his desire to help the whole. It\u2019s never about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Right from his recruiting trip to State College, Gadowsky and the rest of the staff were able to get a sense of just the kind of person McKenna is. His genuine, selfless nature provided a much-welcomed presence in the locker room as Penn State was forced to face adversity on numerous occasions.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very family-oriented. He\u2019s very community-oriented, not only here, but also in his community back home. His moral compass is always pointing in one direction and doesn\u2019t move,\u201d Gadowsky said. \u201cHe\u2019s just very genuinely confident in his values, and the rest is all noise, and it doesn\u2019t waver.\u201d<\/p>\n
When one typically thinks of a highly skilled forward like McKenna, a physical style of play is not usually something that comes to mind. But that\u2019s not the case for him. In fact, McKenna has been kicked out of two games this season for defending his teammates, another testament to his altruistic nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t think about himself first. He thinks about the team first. I\u2019m just so incredibly impressed with how he handles himself. And to think that he\u2019s only 18 is really mind-boggling,\u201d Gadowsky said.<\/p>\n
McKenna\u2019s on-ice heroics are also occurring in a year where the competition level in college hockey is unlike anything the league has ever seen. With the addition of Canadian Hockey League players to the NCAA, the parity and skill that is on display on a nightly basis is unparalleled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ability to put up monster numbers while still playing with an edge shows how McKenna\u2019s maturity level is off the charts, and he will be more than ready to take the next step.<\/p>\n
Based on Gadowsky\u2019s words, it does indeed seem like that next step will come following the conclusion of this season. While McKenna\u2019s time in State College may be short-lived, his impact on the program will extend decades, laying the foundation for hockey in Happy Valley.<\/p>\n
College sports are rapidly changing. With NIL becoming a prominent part of the collegiate landscape, programs must evolve if they want to remain competitive.<\/p>\n
The McKenna experiment proved to be well worth the investment. And while he and his team still have National Championship aspirations, there\u2019s no doubt his legacy has already been cemented.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And as much as Penn State learned about McKenna as a player and as a man, he also taught the program valuable lessons on coaching and managing an athlete of his caliber, undoubtedly being one of the highest-ranked recruits in school history.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many people in the program have learned so much from this experience,\u201d Gadowsky said. \u201cIt\u2019s really been a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n
So while McKenna will head to Albany this weekend for his team\u2019s NCAA Regional matchup with Minnesota-Duluth, No. 72 eyes to capture the program\u2019s first-ever national title, and the Hobey Baker trophy.<\/p>\n
The new standard has been set in Hockey Valley. The groundwork that the 2024-25 Nittany Lions laid paved the way for the bar to be raised. And thanks to \u201cThe Wizard of Whitehorse,\u201d it won\u2019t be coming down any time soon.<\/p>\n
Folks looking to cast a Hobey Baker vote for Gavin McKenna can do so by texting 26053 to (844) 623-9688.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Gavin McKenna committed to Penn State men\u2019s hockey in July 2025, it was a decision that sent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[377],"tags":[39984,766,2145,4975,5,20770,4834,2205,20590,2146,9669,2149,4765,2150],"class_list":["post-523870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hockey","tag-gadowsky","tag-gavin-mckenna","tag-guy-gadowsky","tag-hobey-baker","tag-hockey","tag-mckenna","tag-mens-hockey","tag-ncaa-tournament","tag-nittany-lions","tag-onward-state","tag-pegula-ice-arena","tag-penn-state-hockey","tag-penn-state-mens-hockey","tag-psu"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}