‘He doesn’t want to be compared to Crosby’
He didn’t make the Shattuck-st. Mary’s prep team that a 15-year-old like Crosby did, so he settled for ripping up the under-16 team with 93 points in 40 games.
The first conversation Mackinnon had with Dominique Ducharme, his current coach of the Halifax Mooseheads, was about the Crosby comparisons.
“We told him that he has to try to forget about that. He has to focus on being the best Nathan Mackinnon can be. They’re different players with different qualities,” Ducharme said. “He’s dealing with it, but he doesn’t want to be compared to Crosby.” Ducharme compares Mackinnon’s game to Jeremy Roenick’s, who could score and crush opponents. Mackinnon likes that comparison.
“He shoots right and has a great shot,” said Ducharme of Mackinnon. “He’s a powerful skater with quick hands. Even if he’s 16, he’s got to get stronger, but he’s already tough to knock off the puck. He’s learning to throw some big hits, too.
“Roenick was more physical, for sure, but he’s a well-rounded player like Roenick.”
NHL scouts also think that like Roenick, he won’t need a lot of time to make the big leagues.
“You can project this kid into the NHL at an early age,” said one NHL pro scout who covers the east coast. “He’s one of those kids who can make the jump.”
Mackinnon’s game still needs work. He doesn’t see the ice as well as Crosby, Ducharme said and his defensive game must improve.
“When dominant players grow up in minor hockey, they often always have the puck. So now he’s learning to play without the puck, which before this year, was really foreign to him,” Ducharme said.
Pass the puck to the kid, though, and his play with it is polished. He also explodes from a standstill like Ben Johnson and has a quick release like Steve Stamkos.
Mackinnon drew the attention of the QMJHL, enough to be a lock as the first pick overall this past summer, with Baie-comeau holding the first choice. But Mackinnon doesn’t speak French and didn’t want to play in the heart of French Quebec. He skated with Omaha, of the United States Hockey League, on draft day in a veiled threat to pursue the American college route.
Baie-comeau drafted Mackinnon first anyway and then parlayed him, in a bidding war, to Halifax for two players and three first-round draft picks. Now, partway through his rookie season in the Quebec junior league, Mackinnon is among the leading scorers with 19 goals and 49 points through 30 games. He missed the last few games with a minor shoulder injury, but returned to the ice for the under-17 hockey tournament, where he had an average showing with one goal and four points in five games as he captained a weak Atlantic team to seventh place. It was a mild surprise he was on the under-17 team at all, and not asked by Hockey Canada to play at the world junior tournament going on in Alberta. “I wasn’t offended,” said Mackinnon, about not being invited. “They have a really good team and it’s hard to make it as a 16-year-old.” Would he have fit in on the team currently dominating the Alberta tourney? In his first game after it was clear he wouldn’t be going to the junior camp, Mackinnon had a five-goal performance against the Quebec Remparts. WINDSOR— Sergei Tolchinski scored three goals, including one on a penalty shot, as Russia defeated the United States 7-4 on Wednesday to win the world under-17 hockey challenge.
Tolchinski scored Russia’s first goal of the game in the second period and followed it up by connecting on a third-period penalty shot after being impeded while on a short-handed breakaway. He completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal. Nikita Serebryakov made 45 saves to pick up the win. Earlier Wednesday, Max Domi scored twice to lead Ontario past Sweden 5-2 and capture the bronze medal. LONDON— Tim Howard became the fourth goalkeeper to score in the Premier League when the American found the mark with a windblown clearance from about 100 yards during Everton’s 2-1 loss to Bolton on Wednesday night. SYDNEY— Australia captain Michael Clarke hit a triple century before declaring the hosts’ marathon first innings closed at 659-4 on day three of second Test against India.