McKenna, family savor ‘unreal’ experience of NHL debut for Maple Leafs

TORONTO -- Krystal McKenna couldn’t believe it.

There she was, against the glass watching her boy Gavin take warmups with his Toronto Maple Leafs prior to their season-opening game against the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday.

The 18-year-old was about to play his first professional regular-season game, and the tears trickling down his mom’s cheeks symbolized just what a special moment this was.

“What the hell, my son’s in the NHL!,” she said, fighting the emotions of the moment.

Yes, he is.

And although both mother and son would have liked a better outcome in Gavin’s debut, a 3-2 loss for the Maple Leafs to the Canadiens could not take away from the fact of how far he’s come.

This, after all, was the culmination of a journey that started 2,550 miles northwest of Toronto in Whitehorse, Yukon, where young Gavin had learned the game in a backyard rink in his hometown on crisp winter nights under the northern stars and, on occasion, the northern lights.

Now, all these years later, he’s a Maple Leaf, having been selected No. 1 in the 2026 NHL Draft in June.

Ten years after Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, the top pick in the 2016 Draft, had scored four goals against the Ottawa Senators in his first NHL game, there would be no such magic for McKenna in similar circumstances. He ended up being pointless, going minus-2 with one shot on goal in 15:19 of ice time.

It was a memorable night for him on so many fronts, just not in terms of his performance.

“Not great,” he said candidly when asked for a self-assessment of his play. “Yeah, I don’t know. I’m glad we’re playing again tomorrow (against the New York Islanders) so I can bounce back and regroup.

“Obviously, Montreal’s a really good team. They don’t give you a lot of time and space.”

Especially when you have a few butterflies churning in your gut, which is understandable given the occasion.

“I don’t think it’s a huge adjustment," McKenna said. "Maybe had a little nerves going.  But yeah, it’s fast out there.”

Even with that, the outcome was the only damper on a day he’ll never forget.

Neither, for that matter, will his family.

An entourage of 14 had made the trip from Whitehorse to see him play, a group that included Krystal, his dad Willy, his sisters Madison and Kasey, and his grandfather Joe Mason, perhaps the person who’s served as Gavin’s biggest inspiration.

A member of the Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation, Mason endured Canada's residential school system, which for more than a century separated Indigenous children from their families under the auspices of giving them a Catholic education. However, later investigations showed many of the children suffered physical, mental and sexual abuse, leading to generational trauma.

McKenna has said he would not be the player he is without the perspective Mason’s background has given him. In honor of Mason, McKenna has an intricate tattoo on his forearm of a cabin in the mountains that Mason built that serves as a reminder of his roots.

As such, McKenna was thrilled that his grandfather was in attendance on his special night. And so, too, for that matter, was Mason himself.

“This is unreal,” Mason told NHL.com. “This was always his dream as a kid. He said it all his life playing hockey that he would be in the NHL one day.”

That day came Tuesday. And Mason was there to see it firsthand.

“It’s unreal. It’s surreal," he said. "And on a Canadian team, too.”

It didn't take long for Krystal, Willy and the rest of the family to realize what a crazy hockey market their son is playing in now. Within five minutes of entering Scotiabank Arena for the game, they were recognized by fans as Gavin McKenna’s parents and happily posed for photos. Willy actually had one taken with Maple Leafs great Darryl Sittler, who was greeting fans at the entrance gates.

Once that was done, the family went down to ice level to watch warmups. There, they saw Gavin step onto the ice by himself and do a rookie lap, something he said he’ll never forget.

“It was awesome,” he said. “That was probably the most nervous I was the entire game. You only get to do it once, so I had a lot of fun while I was out there.”

It continued after he was joined by his teammates for the pregame skate.

“Midway through warmup, I had some buddies against the glass and my family,” he said. “So, went over and took a photo with them.

“It’s obviously pretty cool to have my parents and family and friends in the building for my first game.”

A game that can be pretty overwhelming, Matthews said, given its significance for McKenna.

“First game, I mean, it’s tough,” Matthews said. “A lot of things going through your head. I thought he had some good flashes. I just thought the team was just too up and down a little bit.”

Once McKenna had showered and dressed, he met his family and friends for a group photo on the Maple Leafs' bench. It once again reaffirmed to Krystal that yes, her son was in the NHL.

“Unreal,” she said. “Just unreal.”