WAKEFIELD, Mass. – The early season accolades continue to roll in for Penn State as sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) and freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) were each honored by the Hockey Commissioners Association with national recognition for their performances during the opening month of the season.
Wiebusch was named the National Co-Player of the Month while McKenna was given National Rookie of the Month recognition as both players were instrumental to the 9-1-0 start for the Nittany Lions during the month of October.
Penn State is currently ranked No. 3 in both polls and riding a seven-game winning streak on its way to East Lansing for a crucial Big Ten series against No. 1 Michigan State this weekend.
The duo becomes just the third and fourth Nittany Lions ever to earn HCA laurels joining Evan Barratt who was named the Co-Player of the Month for his play during the month of November as a sophomore in 2018 and current junior Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) who was named the Rookie of the Month in November 2023.
Wiebusch has twice been recognized by the Big Ten as a Star of the Week this season including as this current week’s second star as he leads the nation with 11 goals while his 18 points are tied for second nationally and tops in the Big Ten with Cerrato. The sophomore is also tied for the national lead with six powerplay goals and three game-winning tallies to his credit through 10 games this season.
Wiebusch has registered at least one point in nine of 10 games this season with goals in eight of those games including five-straight to tie his career-long goal streak set last season. Dating back to last season, Wiebusch has now scored at least one goal in 15 of his last 19 games with an eye-popping stat line of 20 goals and 12 assists for 32 points in his last 19 games played.
His six man-advantage markers this season are currently tied for the third-most in a single-season at Penn State and Wiebusch is now just two PPG’s shy of Fink’s single-season record of eight achieved each of the past two seasons.
Wiebusch was also just recently named as an addition to the U.S. Collegiate Selects Team ahead of the 2025 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland this December. Wiebusch is one of five Nittany Lions represented in the first 16 members of the team with Guy Gadowsky also serving as Head Coach.
McKenna paced the Big Ten in freshman scoring with 13 points on three goals and 10 assists as his 13 points were tied for the national lead among first-year players while ranking sixth in the Big Ten and tied for 10th in the nation in overall scoring.
The rookies’ 10 assists were also tops in the nation among first-year skaters in October while ranking third in the Big Ten and tied for fifth in the nation overall.
McKenna had points in eight of his 10 games played last month including a career best four-straight to close the month. The freshman also collected five multi-point games including three of his last four to rank second on the team behind Cerrato and Wiebusch’s six.
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