2025 Memorial Cup Final Player to Watch: Gavin McKenna, Medicine Hat Tigers

Rimouski, Que.- For a Tigers team that didn’t play a Game 7 in 2024-25, this is as close as it gets.

Medicine Hat will take the ice against the London Knights one last time with the Memorial Cup on the line.

Naturally, fans will expect the 2025 WHL Player of the Year to have the game of his life.

“The biggest game of my career, honestly,” Tigers alternate captain Gavin McKenna said. “With World Juniors and stuff, I played some big games, but I’ve played with this team all year. We’re super tight, and this is what the whole year has led up to and we want to make sure we’re leaving it all out there, and we’re excited and we know it’s a do-or-die game.”

The projected first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft helped the Tabbies go 3-0 through round robin action and stand on the precipice of becoming the first WHL team in 17 years to go undefeated at the tournament.

McKenna, 17, has found the scoresheet in all three games, including a stunning breakaway effort against the host Rimouski Oceanic in Game 1.

He picked up a secondary assist on linemate Ryder Ritchie’s empty-net goal against the OHL Champion Knights in a 3-1 victory on Tuesday and has made the most of the rest available to his team in the four days since.

With five points in five games, McKenna is in a four-way tie for second in scoring at the Memorial Cup, along with his linemate, Minnesota Wild prospect Ryder Ritchie.

McKenna’s 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship teammate, London Knights forward Easton Cowan, leads the pack with six points (2G-4A).

“They’re your top-end guys,” Knights Head Coach Dale Hunter said. “They’re offensive guys that can really move the puck and shoot and see the open player. That’s why we’re both very good teams. We have skill like that.”

Medicine Hat and London are on the hunt for the third Memorial Cup in their respective franchise histories.

There’s added motivation for the Tigers as they hope to see their three overage players- Captain Oasiz Wiesblatt, WHL Playoffs MVP Harrison Meneghin, and game-winning goal scorer Mathew Ward- end their junior careers on the ultimate high note.

“It kind of fuels you,” McKenna said. “I think our team, we love each other, so it sucks that it’s their last game together. But with that being said, we’re all going to leave it all out there. We’re not saving it for anything, and we want to get it done… I think the 20s are the heart and soul of your team, and we need the 20s to win.”

The 6-foot, 172-pound winger led his team in the 2025 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien with nine goals and 29 assists for 38 points in 16 outings.

McKenna’s 2.38 points-per-game average paced all CHL skaters as he helped the Tigers lift the Ed Chynoweth Cup for the sixth time in franchise history just over two weeks ago.

He was also second in regular-season WHL scoring with a 129-point (41G-88A) campaign that saw him held off the scoresheet just three times.

Will the Tigers cap off a Cinderella season in historic fashion?

Find out when puck drops at 5:00 p.m. MST on TSN in Canada and Victory+ for fans outside the country.