McKenna Named HCA National Rookie of the Month for FebruaryMcKenna Named HCA National Rookie of the Month for February

McKenna Named HCA National Rookie of the Month for February

Smith finishes runner-up for national honors following strong month

WAKEFIELD, Mass. – Freshman forward Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) continues to rake in national recognition as he was honored by the Hockey Commissioners Association as the Rookie of the Month for his performances over six games in February.

Fleming helped Penn State to a 7-3-0 record for the month posting three wins including his second shutout of the season while leading the Big Ten with a .952 save percentage and a 1.62 goals-against average for the month, both marks ranked in the top-10 nationally.

The freshman earns his second monthly honor this season after also being named Rookie of the Month back in October. He becomes the first Nittany Lion all-time to garner multiple monthly awards for his career.

This marks the fourth monthly award for a Penn Stater this season after having just two such honorees over the past 13 seasons entering 2025-26. Freshman goaltender Josh Fleming (Montreal, Quebec) was named the Co-Rookie of the Month for January while sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) earned Co-Forward of the month accolades for the month of October.

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McKenna, a Hobey Baker Award nominee, paced the nation averaging 2.33 points per game with two goals and 12 assists for 14 points in six games. His 14 points led the Big Ten for the month and ranked third nationally, second among rookies, while his 12 assists were tops nationally.

McKenna finished the month on a five-game point streak to tie his career-long while registering three multi-point efforts during that span. The Whitehorse, Yukon native set single-game program records with eight points and a Big Ten best seven assists in an 11-4 victory over Ohio State earlier in the month. The eight points were the most in an NCAA Division I game in 39 years while his seven assists were the most since 1983. Both his point and assist totals from that game are Big Ten records since the conference began sponsoring hockey for the 2013-14 season.

McKenna added a shootout winner against Notre Dame to close the month. His 46 points are the fourth-most in a single-season in Penn State history and just one shy of the freshman record and are good for second in the conference and tied for third in the nation while his 1.53 points per game pace the Big Ten and rank second nationally.

McKenna’s 33 assists this season are tied for the national lead and are a new Penn State single-season record surpassing Aiden Fink’s 30 from last season. 

The freshman is tied with Michigan’s TJ Hughes for the Big Ten scoring lead with 36 points (10G, 26A) in 22 league games while Hughes has no conference games remaining. With a strong series this week, McKenna could become the first-ever Nittany Lion to win the league scoring title. 

Since returning from World Juniors, McKenna leads the nation averaging 2.00 points per game with 28 points (9G, 18A) in 14 games. His 28 points lead the Big Ten and rank second nationally during that span while his 18 (7G, 11A) even-strength points are also tops in the conference and second in the nation over that stretch.

McKenna was also named a runner-up for the National Forward of the Month honor which went to Quinnipiac’s Ethan Wyttenbach. Fellow freshman Jackson Smith (Calgary, Alberta) was named a runner-up for both the National Defender of the Month and the National Rookie of the Month.

Smith led all defensemen in the Big Ten with seven points in the month on three goals and four assists including his first career multi-goal game in a 4-4 tie at No. 2 Michigan. Smith’s three goals were the second most scored by a defenseman for the month as he set a new single-season Penn State record for goals by a defenseman which now stands at 11. 

Smith leads all Big Ten defensemen with his 11 goals this season ranking third in the nation for blue-liners while his 24 points are also tops in the Big Ten for defensemen and 13th in the nation.

No. 6 Penn State concludes the regular-season this week with a Thursday-Friday series against No. 11 Wisconsin. Friday night’s contest will serve as the annual Wear White Game.

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