Two elite sports, one season
Former Mariners’ captain juggles university hockey and pro lacrosse
With his freshman season of university hockey on hold, York Lions forward Jordan McKenna of Dartmouth didn’t sit idle in Toronto during the latest COVID-19 stoppage.
The former Yarmouth Mariner and Halifax Moosehead turned to his other sport and made his National Lacrosse League pro debut with the Toronto Rock in early February.
“It was a pretty cool experience,” said McKenna, 21. “It had been a while since I had played top-tier lacrosse like that, so I was naturally a little nervous at the start. But it definitely helped that there were no fans there. It kind of helped to settle some nerves.
“The feeling after we won — my phone was just blowing up with congratulation texts — so that was pretty neat.”
McKenna was promoted to active status from the practice roster as Toronto defeated the host Philadelphia Wings 14-7.
“With guys going down with COVID and injuries with the Rock, I ended up getting into my first game,” he said. “I was able to showcase what I can really do in a game, because obviously they hadn’t seen me at that level.
“I think the coaches were happy with what they saw and hopefully coming up in the future, once the (university) season is over here with hockey, I can get another opportunity (with Toronto).”
For now, McKenna is listed as a Rock holdout, which essentially means he’s unavailable until his collegiate hockey season finishes.
He had already committed to York when the nearby Rock chose him in the NLL draft last August.
“It definitely worked out,” McKenna said from the Toronto residence he shares with five of his hockey teammates, including Dartmouth neighbour Brock McLeod. “I’m 40 minutes from our practice rink for the Rock, so it’s just a quick rip there and a quick rip back.
“One of my junior A lacrosse coaches from Orangeville (Ont.), he’s coach and assistant GM with Toronto, so he knew what my situation was. It definitely helped getting me here.”
While he plays different positions — forward in hockey and defence in lacrosse — McKenna believes he brings similar qualities to each sport.
“I think (my lacrosse game) is a lot like my hockey game,” he said. “It’s just a lot of compete and hard work and lacrosse IQ sort of thing, like seeing the floor, seeing what kind of plays people are going to make and just making the right read. Because I’m obviously not the biggest guy, so you’ve got to have some smarts on top of that.”
He’s five-foot-11 and 180 pounds, “which for NLL defensive-guy standards would be regarded as pretty small.”
Last winter, McKenna was a top scorer and co-captain of Yarmouth’s junior A hockey team. He spent most of the previous season in the QMJHL with his hometown Mooseheads, who selected the former Dartmouth major midget forward in the fifth round of the 2016 draft.
After two years at Westminster prep school in Connecticut, McKenna returned to Nova Scotia to skate initially with Yarmouth and eventually the Mooseheads before rejoining the Mariners as a 20-year-old.
“We had an unreal group of guys in Yarmouth,” McKenna said. “I loved it there. Coach Laurie Barron, he was awesome. It was really good. Obviously with Halifax, I wasn’t one of the top dogs per se, so it was nice to go back (to junior A) and be one of those top guys and get some confidence up and play the minutes that every player, really, wants to play on whatever team you’re on.”
After the Ontario University Athletics season resumed in February, McKenna scored his first college goal in what was his sixth game with York, a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues. The next week, his buddy and ex-Mooseheads forward McLeod netted his first OUA goal, the overtime winner in the Lions’ 5-4 win over the Brock Badgers. On that same night, former Yarmouth defenceman Kyle Robinson made his Brock debut.
“The guys are just bigger, better, faster and stronger,” McKenna said of stepping up to U Sports hockey this season. “You’re basically taking the top 10 to 15 per cent of junior hockey players and then throwing them all into one pool. It’s a bit of an adjustment period, but I feel like I’ve been getting acclimatized to it pretty well.”
A third former Dartmouth major midget, goaltender Nolan Boyd, plans to join McKenna and McLeod next season as Nova Scotians with York. At least three other players with Maritime junior A history — Aiden MacIntosh, Thomas Lacombe and Brendan McCarthy — have also committed to the Lions.
Growing up, McKenna’s favourite NHL player was Dany Heatley, so he cheered for the Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks and sported Heatley’s No. 15.