photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation
It’s never an easy feat. To make a mark on the IIHF World Junior Championship, a tournament that includes the best teenaged players in the world, takes skill, some good fortune, even some patience.
And it’s that much harder to make a mark as a 17-year-old. Team Canada’s Gavin McKenna is going to attempt to make his mark at the 2025 World Juniors, in front of a home crowd in Ottawa as the tournament returns to Canada for the fourth time in the last five years.
Perhaps a good omen for McKenna and his mates is that Canada has won gold at the past two World Juniors held in the True North Strong and Free.
McKenna, who is still just 16 with his 17th birthday coming on Dec. 20, has dreamed about this moment for quite some time.
“It’s a dream come true. I grew up watching the world juniors with my family, so finally having this become a reality and have the opportunity to play in it, it’s pretty special for me and my family,” said McKenna on the day he found out he cracked Team Canada’s 25-player roster. “I was sitting in my room and got a knock on my door and was told – with me and Brayden Yager there – that we made the team and obviously we were so pumped.”
McKenna has made a name for himself already, both in Canada – where he leads the Western Hockey League with 60 points in 30 games – and internationally, where he won two gold medals with Canada’s National Under-18 Men’s Team, first at the 2024 U18 World Championship and later at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. His performance at the 2024 U18 Worlds was Bedard or McDavid-like, as McKenna scored a hat trick during Canada’s breathtaking third-period comeback in the gold medal game against the United States, which Canada won 6-4. McKenna had 10 goals and 10 assists in seven games at the tournament (as an underager).
During the Christmas holidays this year, under the bright lights of the World Junior Championship on Canadian soil, McKenna is about the become a household name for passionate and casual hockey fans alike.
The list of 17-year-olds who have represented the nation at the World Juniors isn’t long. Underage players who compete at the Juniors are the generational talents like Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby, and Hockey Hall of Famers including Steve Yzerman and Eric Lindros.
Only seven Canadians have debuted at the World Juniors at a younger age than McKenna – Jay Bouwmeester, Crosby, Connor Bedard, Jason Spezza, Lindros, Wayne Gretzky and McDavid.
McKenna has a tall order ahead of him and it’ll be interesting to see how he fares against others who have competed in the World Juniors at the tender age of 17. Macklin Celebrini, the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, had four goals and four assists in five games as Canada finished a disappointing fifth at the 2024 World Juniors in Sweden.
Bedard (who, amazingly, could represent Canada at this year’s tournament) set a standard at the 2023 tournament with 23 points – including nine goals – as he led Canada to gold at the event that was held in Halifax and Moncton. The legendary Czech Jaromir Jagr had 18 points at the 1990 event, which is second for the most points at a tournament as a 17-year-old, behind Bedard.
The Great One didn’t compete at the juniors at age 17. He did it as a 16-year-old, winning the scoring title at the 1978 tournament in Montreal with 17 points, including eight goals.
McKenna, like many of those big names before him, will not be satisfied with simply making the team and skating on the ice at TD Place and Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. It’ll, of course, be a thrill for him to don the Maple Leaf but he wants to be a difference maker, something he’s been doing since he was a Timbit player in his hometown of Whitehorse, Yukon in Canada’s north.
“I want to play a big role on the team,” says McKenna, who plays in the Western Hockey League with the Medicine Hat Tigers and was named WHL and Canadian Hockey League rookie of the year following the 2023-24 season. “I want to get some big minutes and I’ve got to earn those minutes. I’m going to make sure I’m doing everything I can. I’ve got to use my offensive abilities to the best that I can and make the teammates around me better. There’s so much talent on that team, so I’ve got to make sure I’m using them and like I said, work on my defensive game there, because any little mistake against those teams could ruin the tournament for you.”
McKenna and his teammates will open the World Juniors on Dec. 26 against Finland, with the tournament running through Jan. 5 when the gold medal game will be played.
And it’s that much harder to make a mark as a 17-year-old. Team Canada’s Gavin McKenna is going to attempt to make his mark at the 2025 World Juniors, in front of a home crowd in Ottawa as the tournament returns to Canada for the fourth time in the last five years.
Perhaps a good omen for McKenna and his mates is that Canada has won gold at the past two World Juniors held in the True North Strong and Free.
McKenna, who is still just 16 with his 17th birthday coming on Dec. 20, has dreamed about this moment for quite some time.
“It’s a dream come true. I grew up watching the world juniors with my family, so finally having this become a reality and have the opportunity to play in it, it’s pretty special for me and my family,” said McKenna on the day he found out he cracked Team Canada’s 25-player roster. “I was sitting in my room and got a knock on my door and was told – with me and Brayden Yager there – that we made the team and obviously we were so pumped.”
McKenna has made a name for himself already, both in Canada – where he leads the Western Hockey League with 60 points in 30 games – and internationally, where he won two gold medals with Canada’s National Under-18 Men’s Team, first at the 2024 U18 World Championship and later at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. His performance at the 2024 U18 Worlds was Bedard or McDavid-like, as McKenna scored a hat trick during Canada’s breathtaking third-period comeback in the gold medal game against the United States, which Canada won 6-4. McKenna had 10 goals and 10 assists in seven games at the tournament (as an underager).
During the Christmas holidays this year, under the bright lights of the World Junior Championship on Canadian soil, McKenna is about the become a household name for passionate and casual hockey fans alike.
The list of 17-year-olds who have represented the nation at the World Juniors isn’t long. Underage players who compete at the Juniors are the generational talents like Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby, and Hockey Hall of Famers including Steve Yzerman and Eric Lindros.
Only seven Canadians have debuted at the World Juniors at a younger age than McKenna – Jay Bouwmeester, Crosby, Connor Bedard, Jason Spezza, Lindros, Wayne Gretzky and McDavid.
McKenna has a tall order ahead of him and it’ll be interesting to see how he fares against others who have competed in the World Juniors at the tender age of 17. Macklin Celebrini, the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, had four goals and four assists in five games as Canada finished a disappointing fifth at the 2024 World Juniors in Sweden.
Bedard (who, amazingly, could represent Canada at this year’s tournament) set a standard at the 2023 tournament with 23 points – including nine goals – as he led Canada to gold at the event that was held in Halifax and Moncton. The legendary Czech Jaromir Jagr had 18 points at the 1990 event, which is second for the most points at a tournament as a 17-year-old, behind Bedard.
The Great One didn’t compete at the juniors at age 17. He did it as a 16-year-old, winning the scoring title at the 1978 tournament in Montreal with 17 points, including eight goals.
McKenna, like many of those big names before him, will not be satisfied with simply making the team and skating on the ice at TD Place and Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. It’ll, of course, be a thrill for him to don the Maple Leaf but he wants to be a difference maker, something he’s been doing since he was a Timbit player in his hometown of Whitehorse, Yukon in Canada’s north.
“I want to play a big role on the team,” says McKenna, who plays in the Western Hockey League with the Medicine Hat Tigers and was named WHL and Canadian Hockey League rookie of the year following the 2023-24 season. “I want to get some big minutes and I’ve got to earn those minutes. I’m going to make sure I’m doing everything I can. I’ve got to use my offensive abilities to the best that I can and make the teammates around me better. There’s so much talent on that team, so I’ve got to make sure I’m using them and like I said, work on my defensive game there, because any little mistake against those teams could ruin the tournament for you.”
McKenna and his teammates will open the World Juniors on Dec. 26 against Finland, with the tournament running through Jan. 5 when the gold medal game will be played.