(Courtesy Tigers Hockey) #1 WHL Prospects draft pick in 2022, Gavin McKenna

By Lisa Parent

Tigers left-wing Gavin McKenna hard at work in off-season

May 18, 2023 | 4:51 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The Medicine Hat Tigers have been in the off-season for a month and a half now, but individual training hasn’t stopped.

Whitehorse’s Gavin McKenna has big plans to improve his skills this summer.

But first, he made sure to spend some quality time with friends and family that were excited to have him home.

“Yeah they were pretty excited, my dog was pretty excited as well. He was probably the happiest to see me,” McKenna says.

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McKenna made the personal choice to get back to work quickly. He will soon be heading to Michigan for six weeks of on-ice training.

McKenna acknowledges the pressure on him to perform, being the number one Western Hockey League Prospects draft pick in 2022. He says pressure is what drives him forward.

“There’s always a little bit of pressure, but I think when you’re in the games you don’t really think about it, you kinda just play your game. I think pressure is a good thing to have,” he explains.

McKenna adds, “our team talked about that, having pressure it’s an honour kinda. You either thrive in that pressure or you don’t. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to thrive in that.”

Gavin says the work he puts in this summer will dictate what happens next year, and he believes next season’s Tiger’s could win a Championship.