Yukon's Gavin McKenna — and his fans — disappointed at world juniors

Gavin McKenna's first world junior hockey championships didn't go as he or his fans had hoped.

After opening the tournament scoring for Canada in a matchup with Finland, the 17-year-old player from Whitehorse was snake bitten the rest of the way. The entire team was.

That first goal by McKenna would be the only point he would produce.

Only New Brunswick's Bradley Nadeau registered more than a goal. He finished with two.

"I wish we could have done more for the fans and the people of Canada," said McKenna. "It sucks we had to go out this way."

McKenna said he'll take away a lot from his first world juniors.

"It's a short tournament, you gotta make sure every shift counts, there's no bad teams here," he said. "I thought we played well in the last game and deserved to win but sometimes the hockey gods aren't in your favour."

Canada has now bowed out of the tournament without making it to the semifinals twice in a row, after being ousted by Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.

The early exit stings even more because it happened in the nation's capital.

"It's heartbreaking, don't get me wrong," said Krystal McKenna, Gavin's mom. "But the world does keep going and regardless, win or lose, we are still very proud of him."

McKenna was seen wearing a hide vest into the arena before some games. It was a gift from his grandmother, and it features a Hockey Canada logo beaded on one breast and a Hockey Yukon logo beaded on the other. 

For Dan Johnson, Canada's poor performance was especially hard to take because he travelled from Whitehorse with his family to watch McKenna play.

He surprised his three kids on Christmas morning with tickets to the semifinal and gold medal game. But by the time they arrived in Ottawa, Canada was already