In Avs vernacular, Peter the Great doesn’t refer to the Russian Emperor but to Peter Forsberg, who ranks among the all-time best players in franchise history. If our top former players are chiseled on Mount Rushmore, Nathan MacKinnon may be on his ascension over the Black Hills and on his way to Mount Olympus. What we are seeing from MacKinnon this year is not the making of mortals but of gods. But don’t tell him that.
Unlike the fickle gods, MacKinnon credits his teammates for his success. On Tuesday night, he scored his career's 49th, 50th and 51st goal. He is only the 6th player in franchise history to hit the 50-goal mark in one season, and the first time he’s done so in his career. “I’d never thought in my life I’d score 50, honestly,” MacKinnon said, “I never really thought about it. A lot of amazing plays from everybody all season, a lot of empty nets. A lot of hard work from the whole lineup. I think it’s a team achievement, honestly.” As a player who shies away from the media, it is no surprise that he diminishes his achievements. Sure, there were some empty net goals, but let’s be honest, it takes more than a bit of puck luck to bury it to the back of the net 50 times. In addition to his three goals, he had an assist on the first tally of the game, making it the eighth time this season that he has had a four-point night. MacKinnon has 137 points and is two points behind Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov’s 139 in a race for the Art Ross Trophy for most points in a season. Edmonton’s McJesus (AKA Connor McDavid) isn't far behind with 130.
With his 137 points, he also trails two points behind former Nordique star Peter Stastny, who has the 139-point franchise record for most points. Stastny set the record in 1982, and with three more games remaining and MacKinnon averaging 1.73 points per game, there is a strong chance he could surpass it for the first time in 42 years.
Avs home-opener in 2015. I doubt he would ever go out in LoDo after a loss today.
MacKinnon, the number 1 draft pick in 2013-14, has been with the club for his entire career, and now in his tenth season as an Avs and at 28 years old, we can say we have seen his rise from superstar to superhuman. I know I was witnessing something special when I can still remember the game when he scored his first NHL goal against the Washinton Capitals from the living room at my dad’s beat-up rental house at the time. MacKinnon’s first years with the Avs weren’t bad, but considering how bad the Avs were in his 2nd and 3rd seasons, that is still a compliment. However, during the 2016-17 season, he had 53 points; the following year, he nearly doubled it with 97 points. I don’t think it is a coincidence that that was also the year crybaby Matt Duchene was traded and stopped tarnishing the locker room. From then on, Nate has continuously been the breakout star for the Avalanche. You don’t have to know anything about hockey, and if you saw him on the ice, you’d know who he is.
Yes, certain people are born with better athletic abilities than others, and MacKinnon certainly is among the elite, but as his trainer Andy O’Brien said, “Nathan is an exception among the exceptions.” His gift is an insane skillset, but the amount of work and dedication he has put into finetuning his abilities makes him legendary. It is no accident that those who play with him are better for it, too. “His leadership doesn’t turn off,” Coach Bednar said. “It’s every day, the way he approaches the game. All of our new guys are sort of blown away by it when they get here. It can be off-putting sometimes. But that is the way he is. One thing he is going to do is lead by example. All of his other strengths and weaknesses aside, if you want to learn how to be a good pro, that’s what you do. You just watch Nate.”
While Nate is consistently one of the top players on the ice (for either team), there is an unworldly aura to his performance this year. Perhaps it was the early exit from the playoffs last year, coupled with the news that Captain Gabe Landeskog would be out for the regular season, and he knew the team needed to step up. Whatever the reason, he has ravaged every opponent this year. He’s had two separate 19-game point streaks, the only player to do so in NHL history.
However, even more impressive is his dominance on home ice. The season home-opener was on October 19th, and until March 28th, MacKinnon had a point in every single home game. That’s 35 games in a row. Hockey great Wayne Gretzky holds the longest continuous point streak at home with 40 games. In 1990, when he set the record, the NHL only played 80 games, so he had a point in every home game that season. Now, there are 41 home games, and if it hadn’t been for an ass-backward rule, MacKinnon should have been awarded an assist in the game against the Rangers, and his point streak would still be alive. It was also Wayne Gretzky who held the second-longest streak at 33 games, which MacKinnon now holds. He has 34 goals and 53 assists on home ice (87 total points) and is the most since Mario Lemieux in 1996. When a player puts up stats to rival the likes of Gretzky and Lemieux, they’re playing on a different planet.
And yet, he still hasn’t won The Hart Trophy.
The Hart Trophy is awarded yearly to the most valuable player, and while he has been named a finalist three times, he has yet to win it. If anyone was in doubt (and if you were, see a shrink), MacKinnon is the best player in the league right now. Yes, McDavid, Matthews, and Kucherov are all phenomenal players, but in this not-so-humble writer's opinion, they aren’t Nate the Great. Every time he gets the puck, the crowd gets electric; every shift he plays, he makes a difference, and every game he skates in, he gives his team the opportunity to win. He attacks the ice like it stole his girlfriend. While MacKinnon may not be the player to go to when you need a hug, he will be the one to push you to be better. For him, it’s all about the team winning, and that’s why we love him. It’s not about his stats, records, or trophies. He’s chasing one thing, and if Nate is after something, he’s not only catching it, he’s blowing past it. MacKinnon has been a king this season, and the real season hasn’t even begun.
Zeus and Hera, you had better make room up there because MacKinnon is coming, and it will take more than thunderbolts to stop this Mac Attack.