A court date for the Penn State hockey star accused of punching and breaking the jaw of man during an altercation in downtown State College has been pushed back a month.
Originally scheduled for Wednesday, the preliminary hearing for Gavin McKenna on a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and summary offenses of physical harassment and disorderly conduct has been continued to March 11, according to court records.
Defense attorney Jason Dunkle declined comment on Monday.
McKenna, 18, of Yukon, Canada, was also initially charged on Feb. 4 with aggravated assault, but the felony count was withdrawn two days later when Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said a review of video evidence did not support the charge.
“A review of the video does not support a conclusion that Gavin McKenna acted with the intent to cause serious bodily injury or with reckless indifference to the value of human life,” Cantorna said on Friday during a press conference in Bellefonte.
According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by State College police, an officer responded on the night of Jan. 31 to Mount Nittany Medical Center, where a 21-year-old man was hospitalized with a broken jaw after an alleged assault on the 100 block of South Pugh Street.
Friends of the man told police that McKenna punched him twice in the face “following an exchange of words” between their group and McKenna’s group. The complaint did not elaborate on what words were exchanged and Cantorna declined to discuss the specifics on Friday.
Cantorna also cautioned that he does not believe online speculation about the events that led to the altercation is “factually accurate,” and called it “unfair” to both McKenna and the man.
“I would ask the public to refrain from speculating on what did or did not happen and remind people that the fact that there is a verbal argument never, never justifies physical violence,” Cantorna said.
A review of street camera footage, which Cantorna said does not record audio, showed the altercation occurring outside the Pugh Street Parking Garage at about 8:45 p.m. McKenna had been attending an event with they hockey team and their families and friends at Doggie’s Pub, 108 S. Pugh St., prior to the incident following the Nittany Lions’ outdoor game at Beaver Stadium earlier in the day.
The affidavit filed by police stated that the man’s jaw was broken in two places and that he had lost a tooth. Cantorna corrected that on Friday, saying that the man’s jaw was broken on one side and he did not lose any teeth.
The man had surgery that was expected to require his jaw to be wired shut for two weeks, police wrote. He is not facing any criminal charges, Cantorna said.
“There’s nothing in this incident relating to the victim engaging in any criminal activity,” he said.
McKenna was arraigned on Feb. 4 by District Judge Casey McClain and released on $20,000 unsecured bail.
His status with the Penn State men’s hockey team is unclear, and an athletic department spokesperson declined to comment on an ongoing legal matter.
The Nittany Lions had a bye last week and return to action with a game on Friday night at Michigan. Coach Guy Gadowsky is scheduled to have his regular media availability later this week.
McKenna’s rescheduled preliminary hearing coincides with the first day of the Big Ten Hockey Tournament.
The highest-rated recruit in Penn State hockey history, McKenna has widely been viewed as one of the top prospects for this year’s NHL Draft. The forward had a goal and two assists in the Nittany Lions’ last game, the overtime loss to Michigan State at Beaver Stadium. He leads the Nittany Lions in assists and is tied for the team lead in points.
Prior to his arrival at Penn State, he spent parts of the past three seasons with the the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League, where in 2025 he became the third-youngest player named Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year, behind Sidney Crosby and John Tavares.
