RIMOUSKI — Gavin McKenna has played on big stages before.
The Medicine Hat Tigers’ star forward led Canada to an under-18 world championship last year. This past winter, he wore the red Maple Leaf again under the bright spotlight at the world juniors.
The chance to play in the Memorial Cup final — his last game with this set of teammates — ranks a little higher for the 17-year-old phenom.
“Biggest game of my career,” he said. “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 our all out there.
“It's a do-or-die game.”
The Western Hockey League champion Tigers take on the London Knights, who won the Ontario Hockey League, for the top prize in Canadian junior hockey Sunday at Colisée Financière Sun Life.
McKenna, the tournament’s headliner as the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft, said the last dance with this Tigers roster fuels him. So does the pressure of delivering a championship to Medicine Hat.
“Losing sucks,” he said. “We want to do whatever it takes to win and make sure that we don't have regrets of leaving something out there that we shouldn't have.”
The Tigers defeated the Knights 3-1 in round-robin play to qualify directly for the final and earn four days off.
London, meanwhile, reached the championship game with a 5-2 win over the Moncton Wildcats in Friday’s semifinal.
The Knights also have unfinished business after last year’s devastating loss, when the Saginaw Spirit scored a go-ahead goal with 22 seconds left in regulation to snatch the Memorial Cup.
“Probably the worst day of my life, and I think a lot of guys on our team,” captain Denver Barkey said. “To come up short in the end with 20 seconds left, it was gut-wrenching. We remembered how that feels and we're gonna use it as motivation and fuel for tomorrow.
“We carried it throughout the year.”
Last year, the Knights had a bye to the final and a long break before the title game, which led to a slow start and a 3-0 deficit against Saginaw.
London looked superior against Medicine Hat in the round-robin and led the shot count 36-29, but couldn’t solve Tigers netminder Harrison Meneghin more than once.
Tigers defenceman Tanner Molendyk expects to have his hands full against a Knights team with 12 NHL draft picks and four first-rounders. He said it’s the toughest opponent they’ve faced all season.
“Look at the chances they got. I mean, they kind of created a lot off the rush,” he said. “They're a quick team, they got a lot of skill, and we gotta find a way to stop that. They come at you hot, but we've done stuff to hopefully prevent that.”
All game, the Knights contained McKenna, who only picked up an assist on Ryder Ritchie’s empty-net goal in the dying seconds.
McKenna, of Whitehorse, has two goals and three assists in three Memorial Cup games after piling up 129 points in 56 outings this past regular season.
Tigers head coach and GM Willie Desjardins said McKenna didn’t enter the tournament at his best after missing two games in the WHL championship series with an undisclosed injury.
“He wasn't on top of his game,” Desjardins said. “But he's such a quality guy, you still have him out at the end of the games, because he has the ability to find a way. He just does. He finds a way. And that's what makes him special.
“He just seems to have a way in big tournaments to play better. We're hoping he has his best game for sure.”
The Tigers will play in their fourth Memorial Cup final, hoping to win their third title — and first since going back-to-back in 1987 and 1988.
London will try to hoist its third Memorial Cup in a fifth championship game appearance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
