The first week of the Canada Winter Games starts to wrap up as Team Yukon makes history on Prince Edward Island
YUKON – History was made yesterday at the Canada Winter Games on Prince Edward Island.
Gavin McKenna broke record books by being the most prolific scorer in men’s hockey history. McKenna surpassed François Methot (1997) and Kelsey Tessier (1997) with his 28th point versus Newfoundland (2007).
He finished with a total of 29 points in the event.
McKenna says he models his game after Colorado Avalanche Nathan MacKinnon.
“I’ve modeled myself as much as I can to Nathan MacKinnon. He’s a 200-foot player. He plays the game well and yeah, he’s definitely one of the players I watched but my favourite player to watch is probably Jack Hughes. He’s just such a such a fun player to watch and every time he’s out there, he’s so exciting. So yeah, those two for sure.”
McKenna talked briefly about what he felt advancing the team further than ever before.
“Playing against PEI. Obviously, we had two wins going into that game. And we knew if we got that third win, we would be through the pool and that was our goal going into the tournament. And yeah, obviously the hometown crowd there watching us and just to get that empty net goal when we knew we kind of were going through that was an amazing feeling. Yeah, it was definitely a cool thing for sure. Knowing that we kind of set history as there first ever Yukon team to make it through. It was awesome.”
Several records were broken by Yukon players. Chayce Tuton became the highest-scoring defenseman in men’s hockey at a Games, while Jase Johnstone eclipsed Sidney Crosby’s point total.
In the 9th game out of 10, the hockey team faced off against Newfoundland again. The Yukon fought valiantly, but their marine opponent triumphed 7-3.
The Yukon’s 10-place performance is also remarkable since it is the greatest ever for the men’s hockey team.
