Mighty Mac
Just 18 years old, Avs rookie Nathan MacKinnon has not looked like a rookie playing the first two NHL playoff games of his career, with seven points out of nine goals. How he has fared against the Wild: Game Day Score 1 Thur. Avs, 5-4 2 Sat. Avs, 4-2 Goals Assists 0 3 1 3 out. Or at least get yanked off the ice. It was a burst by MacKinnon that started the tic-tac-toe of a score that gave Colorado a 3-1 lead and forced Wild coach Mike Yeo to pull his space-case goalie from the net and banish him to the dark side of the moon.
Broncos quarterback John Elway is the most revered athlete to ever wear the uniform of a Denver team. But, compared to a teen phenom growing his first NHL playoff beard, Elway was not nearly this good this young. Was Kobe Bryant this good on a basketball court at age 18? Nope.
OK. Inhale, exhale. MacKinnon must lead his team to two championships and climb Longs Peak 10 times before he begins to stand as tall in Colorado as Elway.
More than six months ago, beforeMacKinnon played his first NHL game, I asked Roy how he was going to deal with the pressure of expectations on a No. 1 draft pick.
“All I want from MacKinnon is so simple: Be himself,” Roy told me in September. “There’s going to be expectations. Peo- Points 3 4 +/- 3 2 Shots Shifts Ice time 3 29 22:34 4 25 17:05 ple will expect him to win the Calder Trophy. But that’s the final product. The start is: Be who you are. Don’t try to be the player anybody else expects.”
Nobody could have expected this much: At 18, MacKinnon is often the best player on the ice. Avalanche teammates call him Razor to make fun of the teenager’s playoff beard. But a kid shall lead them.
From his first shifts with the Avalanche on opening night of the season, it is obvious the Calder won’t be the last trophy thatMacKinnon wins in his NHL career.
Anybody still believe the Avalanche should have drafted Seth Jones?
Jones might well grow into a perennial all-star as a defenseman in Nashville.
MacKinnon, however, is a force of nature that can change the course of a playoff series and the fortunes of a franchise.
Go ahead, Denver. Fall in love. This is the real deal.