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Yukon-born hockey prospect Gavin McKenna allegedly hit a 21-year-old man “in the face” during a Jan. 31 incident in State College, Penn., local police say.
In a news release issued late Wednesday, the State College Police Department said McKenna, 18, faces four charges including felony aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct after an altercation near Pennsylvania State University’s main campus.
During the incident, police allege McKenna hit the man in the face, “resulting in facial injuries requiring corrective surgery.”
McKenna, projected to be a top pick in the NHL draft, is playing college hockey this season with the Penn State Nittany Lions.
In an affidavit filed with Centre County Magesterial District Court, State College police said the alleged incident happened as McKenna was walking with a group of people from a bar that was hosting an event following a Penn State hockey game.
Police said the two groups had “an exchange of words” and “the patient was punched twice on the right side of his face.”
Interviewed by police in hospital, the alleged victim “was in substantial pain and could hardly speak,” the affidavit reads.
Reached by phone by a CBC reporter Wednesday, McKenna hung up without comment. A spokesperson for Penn State also declined to comment.
TSN hockey analyst Craig Button said the allegations seem out of character for McKenna, but it’s too soon to speculate on what they could mean for his career.
“This is a situation that certainly puts Penn State hockey into the public spotlight, puts Gavin McKenna in the public spotlight,” he said.
“But we really have to make sure that we allow the fact finding process to play out before we start talking about what it could mean or what it couldn’t mean.”