Mackinnon cracks code
DENVER — Nathan Mackinnon has gone from “Why me?” to “Why not us?”
After losing in the second round of the playoffs for the third consecutive year last season, the star-crossed superstar groused that he was eight years into his NHL career and he hadn’t won squat.
An offseason chat with his boss, Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic, helped the Avalanche center realize he didn’t have to lug around the franchise’s fortunes and weight of hefty expectations squarely on his shoulders.
By dialing it down, Mackinnon perhaps has cracked the code.
“Nate is giving up probably playing the way he’s always played to make sure that he’s good on the defensive side of it, but he’s still contributing and it’s up to the other guys on the team to get the job done on some nights,” coach Jared Bednar said. “Different guys will step up on different nights. But that’s how you win in the playoffs, you have to be willing to sacrifice a little bit of your own game for what’s better for the team.”
That’s a lesson Mackinnon took to heart from the start of training camp and helped him lead the Avalanche to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 2001.
Mackinnon and his teammates will try to take a 2-0 lead over the two-time defending champion Lightning on Saturday night at Ball Arena, where they won a 4-3 overtime thriller in the opener.
Sakic is trying to follow in the footsteps of friend and fellow Denver icon John Elway in winning a championship from the front office after a hoisting the trophy twice during his Hall of Fame playing career He exhorted Mackinnon not to be so hard on himself and to play more freely this season.
It’s worked wonders. Mackinnon said he no longer feels bogged down.
“I was in a different head space last year but definitely feel more free and feel good, for sure,” said Mackinnon, who had an assist in Game 1 but drew every eye on multiple occasions.
“It’s a special group in there and you don’t get to the final by having selfish guys or guys going in different directions,” Mackinnon said.
Make no mistake, however: Mackinnon still leads aplenty by example.
“He’s such a driven guy,” defenseman Cale Makar said. “You see him -- he’s almost on the ice every single day, one of the first guys, doing individual work or working with the boys. It’s not always all about himself and individual work, too. He is always about working with somebody else, whether it’s teaching or giving little pointers.”
And what’s helping the Avalanche close in on greatness themselves.
“I feel like he just does everything so well. He’s such a two-way player for us,” Makar said. “He comes up in those big moments ... he comes up defensively for us, too. So there’s definitely nothing specific that I can nail down that makes him so special. He does everything so well.”
Trade deadline acquisition Josh Manson said Mackinnon’s all-round game, both physical and psychological, makes him the quintessential leader.
“He wants to drive the rest of the team to win,” Manson said.