Nathan MacKinnon: Can't stop, won't stop.
One of hockey's premier superstars has elevated his game to another level this season.
Ever-modest though he may be, Sidney Crosby casts a mighty shadow.
But Nathan MacKinnon has always stood in his own spotlight, (inevitable comparisons to his summer-training-partner be damned).
Both were anointed superstars-in-waiting when they were drafted first overall, a sports generation apart (Crosby in 2005, MacKinnon in 2013).
Both are tremendous offensive talents, albeit at different peaks.
Crosby, now in the latter stages of his career, has evolved into, arguably, the most well-rounded player in hockey history.
MacKinnon will, admittedly, never reach that same level but at 28, he is square in the apex of his prime years, a dynamo, able to utilize his pure speed, IQ and physical ability like few others.
And both, as you may know, are proud sons of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.
For many years, the sign welcoming you to town was remarkably efficient in its construction: “Welcome to Cole Harbour, Home of Sidney Crosby.”
An impressive simplicity. What else, really, needed to be said?
But in 2022, following Colorado’s Stanley Cup win, of which MacKinnon played a key role and finished second in playoff MVP voting?
An addition was made, congratulating him on the victory.
No, not quite the same - but to be fair, MacKinnon isn’t done just yet.
On Sunday, MacKinnon’s Colorado Avalanche bested Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins, in a game where the two teams couldn’t be further apart.
The Penguins built a 4-0 lead they couldn’t hold, dropping a 5-4 decision in overtime (even as Crosby collected four points). In flux, their immediate future seems bleak at best - their odds of making the playoffs, per MoneyPuck, have decreased to just 1.5%.
Colorado, on the other hand, currently second in the West, have won nine consecutive games and are looking to maintain momentum as the regular season heads into its final stretch.
The playoffs and another shot at a championship, beckon.
And nobody, save Cale Maker, has been more important to their success than MacKinnon. With three points against the Penguins, he now has 122 on the season, with just over ten games to go.
It is:
A career-high (surpassing his 111 points last season).
A season-best Avalanche-record (surpassing Joe Sakic’s 120 points in 1995/1996 - Peter Šťastný, for now, still holds the franchise record of 139 points during the 1981/1982 season, when the team was the Quebec Nordiques).
And as of this writing, he is just a single point behind the 123 put up by Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov, who is leading the League. Presuming Connor McDavid in third, with 117, will go nuclear (as he does), it will be a dogfight for both the Art Ross (leading scorer) and Hart trophies both (MVP, as voted by the PHWA).
Additionally, MacKinnon is hurtling towards some impressive (if highly specific) NHL history. With points in 34 consecutive home games, he is behind only Wayne Gretzky in that statistic, who had points in 40 straight home games (1988/1989).
The Avs have seven home games left this season. And MacKinnon is riding an overall 18-game point streak (37 points total), with seemingly no brakes.
Regardless of how the individual accolades shake out (Hart or no Hart) it is a reminder of his singular individual talent, a stratosphere he was always anticipated to reach.
MacKinnon, of course, didn’t really step into true superstardom until his fifth season, where, with 97 points, he was voted a second-team All Star and finished second in MVP voting to Taylor Hall (remember that uproar? Oh boy).
The most impressive thing? He was just 22, having finally found his rhythm as an NHLer, after stepping into professional hockey as a teenager. And since then? He has seemed insistent on making up for lost time: with four other top-ten Hart finishes and a rightfully earned spot as one of the sport’s best players.
The only question is if he will be able to keep the party going, as the Avalanche chase down another Stanley Cup - with him at the centre of the action. Can they?
We’ll just have to wait and see.