Gavin McKenna impressed during his college hockey debut on Friday night.
The 17-year-old freshman prodigy notched two primary assists in the first period of no. 5 Penn State’s 6-3 comeback victory over no. 14 Arizona State. The first of which was a sick no-look pass to teammate Aiden Fink to put the Nittany Lions up 1-0 early.
McKenna, the projected first overall pick at next year’s NHL Draft, had a national audience for his NCAA debut on top of the one in attendance at Mullet Arena in Tempe, Arizona. NHL Network broadcast the game where boos were audible every time the preseason All-Big Ten selection possessed the puck.
“I heard the boos when I got to touch the puck, and yeah, it was fun,” McKenna said post-game. “I think playing in [front of] a crowd like that, it’s easy to get up for a game like this.”
The Whitehorse, Yukon native, indeed, made things look easy with his second assist on the night. He found a loose puck in front of the net which he fed to fellow forward Charlie Cerrato who buried it into the Arizona State net from a tight angle in the right face off circle. Cerrato is the son of former Commanders’ general manager Vinny Cerrato.
McKenna, who spent the past three seasons dominating the WHL with the Medicine Hat Tigers, felt like he was well prepared for the unique challenges college hockey presents.
“There’s not a lot of time and space out there,” he said. “I think it’s quicker… You’re playing with some good players and playing against good players. I think I’ve played against good players in my life. Playing at world juniors and stuff, I think that kind of prepared me for this.”
The Nittany Lions and Sun Devils will rematch at 8pm ET on Saturday with McKenna still looking to notch his first NCAA goal. Fans can find the contest once again on NHL Network or the league’s YouTube channel.
“He’s special, right?” Arizona State head coach Greg Powers said Friday. “You can see it. It was his first college game, and if he touches the puck in the [offensive] zone, you’re holding your breath. He’s special. He’s young. He’s going to get better and better every game. I think we’re going to see an even better effort out of him tomorrow.”
