Ok, so I know I haven’t been Avid Avaholicing so far this season. I could list off numerous excuses, but that’s all they would be, excuses. It certainly hasn’t been for a lack of interesting content, with the disgruntled Duchene finally skating away from the Avalanche bench, and the Avs only being 5 wins shy of beating their 22 wins from last season, the Avalanche have been showing signs of life all season. It is with this new energy that I am bringing my blog back into action.
There are several topics that deserve to be discussed, but the one that has got me the most enthusiastic is Nathan MacKinnon. Since his debut in 2013, I have been waiting for MacKinnon to show the league his greatness. He entered the NHL as the first overall draft pick, and with his speed and instinctive puck handling, he was expected to do great things in this first year, which he did. Scoring 24 goals, racking up a total of 63 points, Mackinnon was the recipient of the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, setting an NHL record as youngest player to receive the award at 18 years and 224 days.
Of course MacKinnon’s rookie year coincided with what can only be seen now as an auspicious season for the Avalanche, where the Avs won the Central Division, only spiral downhill season after season. The stars certainly were not aligning to showcase what MacKinnon could be capable of doing. He finished last season with 53 points and a -14, but with only 22 wins what can you expect? However, in the 37 games played so far this season, he has 43 points, and has already tied his goals for last season at 16. Things are clearly starting to click for the 22 year old Novocain.
Is it more experience? Is it his training? Is it the team? Or perhaps the departure of the lackluster superstar, Matt Duchene that has finally allowed MacKinnon to step into his own? Obviously the answer would most likely be E.) All of the Above. However, you certainly can’t dismiss the line that he has been playing on with Landeskog, and Ratanen. The trio have been lighting up the ice shift after shift, with Mikko Ra Ra having a point in eight straight games. From what we have seen thus far of the triumvirate, and if they keep it up, it will be amongst the great Avalanche lines in franchise history.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we are not even halfway through the season, and there is still plenty of time left for things to change. Hopefully, they won’t, but after the heartbreak of last season (hell, after the disappointment of the last ten seasons), I can’t be overly optimistic. What I can do is not dwell too much on what is making MacKinnon tick, or the Avs to be productive on the ice, but be able to watch the Avs play with confidence and determination and wait for the next Natty Mac Attack.
A Natty Mac Attack from Dec. 9th for the game-tying goal vs the Panthers.
* A Natty Mac Attack consists of Nathan MacKinnon flying up the ice, past defensemen and tossing the puck in the net with such grace that it looked easy, but only when watching he replay do you ask ‘how and the hell did he do that?”
