By Vinny Gillespie
Photos by Dylan Asmundson
Gavin McKenna // 2020-2022
Gavin McKenna started his RINK Hockey Academy journey in 2020-21 where the season was unfortunately cancelled, but the positives from these circumstances were that he still had the chance to get more familiar with his future teammates, coaches, teammates and environment in Kelowna. In the 2021-22 season with the U18 Prep team, Gavin McKenna managed to put up an incredible 23 goals and 42 assists for 65 points in 35 games. Throughout the season, lots of scouts and hockey fans began to hear about some young stud from Yukon who just so happened to be related through marriage to 2020 1st overall WHL Draft pick to the Regina Pats, Connor Bedard (who was also the 1st overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft to the Chicago Blackhawks). On May 20th, 2022, the Medicine Hat Tigers very proudly selected generational superstar, Gavin McKenna, with the 1st overall pick in the WHL Draft. During the 2022-23 season, Gavin McKenna split time between the Southern Alberta Hockey Academy, where he was named the CSSHL’s U18 Prep Division MVP, and the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL, where he had an incredible start.
In his WHL debut against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on September 24th, 2022, Gavin McKenna managed to put up a shocking 4 assists in his first game as a 14-year-old. During the Canada Winter Games in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Gavin McKenna shattered the record for most points in the tournament with an unforgettable performance where he put up 16 goals and 15 assists for 31 points in 7 games. In his first stint in the WHL as a 14-year-old, Gavin McKenna put up an outstanding 4 goals and 14 assists for 18 points in 16 games. The following 2023-24 season, Gavin McKenna had an absolute offensive outbreak and managed to put up 34 goals and 63 assists for 97 points in 61 games and even had 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points in 5 playoff games. A season like that very clearly made the voters’ decision easy when choosing the winner of the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy which is given to the WHL’s top rookie, which also led him to win the CHL Rookie of the Year Award as well.
With a season like that, Gavin McKenna earned himself a spot on the Team Canada Red U17 team where he had 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points in 7 games. On top of playing for one of Canada’s U17 teams, Gavin McKenna had the chance to wear the maple leaf one more time for Canada’s U18 team where he put up an impressive 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points in 7 games and won the Gold Medal alongside his former RINK Hockey Academy teammates, Tij Iginla, and Ryder Ritchie. As the top prospect in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, Gavin McKenna keeps making a name for himself at every level he goes to, and we very much expect a constant continuation in the growth of his game.
![]()
Maya Serdachny // 2021-2023
Maya Serdachny played the 2021-22 season with the RINK Hockey Academy U18 Female squad where she put up an incredible 4 goals and 21 assists for 25 points in 26 games as a blueliner. On August 14th, 2022, it was officially announced that Maya Serdachny was named to Canada’s National Women’s U18 team and that she would be competing in the upcoming U18 Women’s World Championship in January of 2023! The following 2022-23 season, she improved her offensive prowess with RHA and managed to have 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points in 25 games!
Once January finally came, Maya Serdachny suited up in 5 games in the prestigious maple leaf jersey where she went on to win the Gold Medal after a 10-0 blowout win against Sweden. It was officially announced that on June 6thth, 2023, Maya Serdachny signed her letter of intent to join the NCAA Division I University of Connecticut Women’s Hockey program for the 2023-24 season. In 30 games played with the University of Connecticut Huskies, Maya Serdachny managed to put up 4 assists.
Tij Iginla // 2021-2022
Tij Iginla, self-described as a Pegasus, started his journey with the RINK Hockey Academy in the 2021-22 season where he had an incredible 26 goals and 22 assists for 48 points in 32 games. Since the WHL Draft was pushed back due to the pandemic, it was held in December, instead of the usual start in May. After a few months with the RHA U18 Prep team where he put up 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 points in 10 games prior to being selected, it was announced that with the 9th overall pick in the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft, the Seattle Thunderbirds were very proud to select Tij Iginla. That season, in 3 WHL games played, Tij Iginla managed to put up 1 assist. That year, the Seattle Thunderbirds managed to get all the way to the WHL Finals and surprised some fans and weirdly enough some arena managers too since during the finals, the Seattle Thunderbirds’ home arena, the accesso ShoWare Center, was rented out for some graduations. What this meant was that since the arena was being rented out already, the Thunderbirds were unable to play home games all series long.
The following 2022-23 season, most of the same guys from the Seattle Thunderbirds came back and Tij Iginla was destined for greatness with a stacked roster. In November of 2022, Tij Iginla was named to Canada’s U17 Red team where he put up 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points in 7 games where he went on to win a Silver Medal at the tournament. That WHL season, Tij Iginla managed to put up 6 goals and 12 assists for 18 points in 48 games which doesn’t sound great, but once you consider the amount of ice time he had, it was truly an incredible season. To put it into perspective of how stacked that Seattle Thunderbirds squad truly was, the team that year as of June 14, 2024, had 14 NHL Draft picks including five 1st round NHL Draft picks. For the 2023 WHL Playoffs, the Seattle Thunderbirds went all the way to the Finals where this time, they defeated the Winnipeg ICE in 5 games and had the chance to celebrate the Ed Chynoweth Cup win in front of their home crowd at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington. After earning themselves a spot in the 2023 Memorial Cup, the Seattle Thunderbirds made it all the way to the Memorial Cup Finals and had a great tournament.
On June 7th, 2023, the Kelowna Rockets acquired Tij Iginla in a trade for a 2024 1st round WHL Draft pick, a 2027 2nd round WHL draft pick and forward Grady Lenton. With a fresh start in a familiar spot, Tij Iginla started making a name for himself worldwide with his outstanding season with the Kelowna Rockets. As most Kelowna Rockets fans probably noticed, the home play-by-play announcer for the Rockets often shouted “IGGY WIGGY WIGGY WOO WOO!” this season, as Tij Iginla was the top goal scorer on his team and managed to put up 47 goals and 37 assists for 84 points in 64 games. With a season as impressive as that one, Tij Iginla very clearly earned himself a spot for the Canadian 2024 U18 World Junior team where he put up 6 goals and 6 assists for 12 points in 7 games and even scored the game winning goal in the Gold Medal game! Currently, Tij Iginla is a top prospect for the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and is currently ranked anywhere from 4th overall to 18th overall on various scouts and scouting agencies. During the season, Tij Iginla was constantly moving up the draft boards and we fully expect him to be selected early on June 28th.
Jade Iginla 2021-2022
Jade Iginla started off her journey with the RINK Hockey Academy in the 2021-22 season where she put up an incredible 18 goals and had 10 assists for 28 points. On December 8th, 2021, the CSSHL announced that Jade Iginla had signed her letter of intent to join the NCAA Division I Brown University Female Hockey program for the 2022-23 season. In January of 2022, Jade Iginla earned herself a roster spot on team Canada’s U18 Women’s World Junior Championship team she managed to put up 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points in 3 games. That tournament, team Canada lost 2-0 against Finland and 7-0 against the United States of America before the team went on to beat Finland 2-1 in the semi-finals and won 3-2 in the Gold Medal against team USA in enemy territory!
In her freshman year at Brown University in the 2022-23 season, Jade Iginla earned herself a spot on the ECAC All-Rookie Team along with being named the ECAC Rookie of the Year. That season, Jade Iginla managed to lead her team in goals and points by putting up 17 goals and 6 assists for 23 points in 29 games and was named the team’s MVP. In her sophomore season at Brown University for the 2023-24 season, she kept up her offensive domination and led her team in goals and assists in the second straight season by putting up 16 goals and 11 assists for 27 points in 32 games. With an impressive season like that, Jade Iginla was named to the All-Ivy Second team. We expect Jade Iginla to return to Brown University next season and continue dominating as usual.
Ryder Ritchie (2019-2022)
Ryder Ritchie started his journey with RINK Hockey Academy Kelowna U15 Prep (previously known as Pursuit of Excellence) in the 2019-20 season where the young 13-year-old put up 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points in 29 games. The following 2020-21 season with RINK Hockey Academy Kelowna U15 Prep team, Ryder Ritchie managed to somehow put up 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points in 5 games. Unfortunately, the rest of the season was cut short due to the pandemic, but Ryder Ritchie was bound to break multiple records with the 5.6 PTS/G pace he was at that season. In the 2021-22 season, Ryder Ritchie made the jump to the RHA U18 Prep team where he put up 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points in 23 games.
Since the 2021 WHL Draft was pushed back to December as supposed to its usual start in May, it gave the Prince Albert Raiders a chance to get a good look at Ryder Ritchie and only made their choice easier when they decided to draft him with the 14th overall pick in the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft. In his first year in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders, Ryder Ritchie put up an incredible 20 goals and 35 assists for 55 points in 61 games on a young up-and-coming team destined for success in a few years. With a very impressive rookie season in the WHL, it was an obvious choice to name Ryder Ritchie as the recipient of the Jim Piggott Trophy which is awarded to the WHL Rookie of the Year. In November 2022, Ryder Ritchie wore the sacred maple leaf jersey for team Canada’s U17 White team where he had 4 goals in 6 games.
In his second season with the Prince Albert Raiders, Ryder Ritchie managed to put up 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points in 47 games on a still young, but fast-improving team. Ryder Ritchie had the chance to compete once again in the prestigious maple leaf jersey for team Canada’s U18 World Junior team where he had 4 goals and 4 assists and played alongside his former RINK Hockey Academy teammates Gavin McKenna and Tij Iginla where they won the Gold Medal at the tournament. Ryder Ritchie made quite the name for himself in his young hockey career, but we fully expect him to be taken within the first couple rounds of the NHL Entry Draft as the consensus rankings for him as of June 14th, 2024, have him anywhere from 21st overall to 49th overall.
