A Somewhat Brief Appreciation Of Colorado Avalanche Center Nathan MacKinnon

“Nate MacKinnon is my husband.” “Nathan MacKinnon is the love of my life.” These are just two of the sentences I use to describe beloved Colorado Avalanche player Nathan MacKinnon. He is an amazing player and amazing human. Not only is he my favorite player on the Avalanche (who are my favorite hockey team in the entire universe), but my favorite player in the National Hockey League by a mile. It’s very hard to change my mind about why Nathan is a likeable and talented member of society.

Nathan, a Virgo, was born on September 1, 1995, in Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada. Almost immediately, his hockey talents started to shine brighter than nineteen dozen diamonds. At a young age, he averaged 200 points in 50 games. Things only got better for Nathan in adolescence, when he played Bantam AAA hockey in Nova Scotia, averaging over 100 points in two seasons. Part of me has to wonder if he was born with a hockey puck and stick in his hands. Or maybe a fairy in platinum graced him when he was six weeks old. Perhaps a little of both!

After enrolling at a Minnesota boarding school, Nathan went nowhere but up. Despite being a younger player, he played well enough to join the 2011 Canada Winter Games tournament team representing Nova Scotia. Not only that, he helped lead the Halifax Mooseheads, a junior hockey team in Canada, to their first ever Memorial Cup championship. On top of that, he was named MVP and was part of the Tournament All-Star Team. If I was a scout, I would have been beyond blown away. That is an extremely impressive hockey resume. Change my mind.

See the source image — Nathan spends quality time with a Golden Retriever (Credit: Pinterest)

It only gets better for the amazing young man! During his first year with the Avs, Nathan surpassed Dale Hawerchuk for being the youngest player to record back-to-back games and Wayne Gretzky for being the youngest player to complete a thirteen-game point streak, in addition to appearing in all 82 regular season games. It’s no wonder Nathan got the Hockey Rookie of the Year Calder Trophy! I’m starting to believe there’s something in that Nova Scotia water.

The superstar status is still strong as ever. In 525 games played, he has scored 190 goals, 495 points, 56 power play goals, and 132 game-winning goals. To make his resume even better, he has 98 total career power play assists, and is the youngest Avalanche player to score a hat trick (three goals in one game, celebrated by spectators tossing hats onto the rink)! I don’t know about you, but to me, that is the textbook definition of a barbarically talented player! No wonder he’s been an all star every year since 2017! What a king!

Don’t just take my word for it, fellow hockey players have amazing things to say about him. His teammate, Joonas Donskoi, says he’s a strong and highly skilled human. He’s right about that. Nathan literally is a member of the Avalanche to knock my socks off and impress the entire universe, at least from my perspective. In addition, he’s close with Sidney Crosby, another player I really enjoy. Maybe there is something in the Nova Scotia water after all, or maybe Mr. Crosby taught Nathan how to be awesome. Maybe a little of both.

Nathan is a family man. He is very appreciative of the support his father gives him. This is something I relate to very much since my own father tells me how proud he is of me at my job. He was also very happy for me in college and was sending a lot of support. He’s also got some acting under his belt, including the animated Canadian television series Mr. D, the Canadian mockumentary Trailer Park Boys, and advertisements for beloved Canadian coffee restaurant Tim Horton’s (alongside his friend and mentor Sidney Crosby). If Nathan weren’t a hockey player, he might be an actor, maybe even a dog trainer.

Speaking of dogs, the reason I like to call Nathan the love of my life is because of his love for dogs! Back during the 2018 Hockey All-Star Game, Nathan was doing an interview where he was discussing the first Stanley Cup he remembers watching. He was pleasantly surprised with puppies and mentioned his love of dogs. He mentioned he has a German Shepherd who acts as his furry bodyguard. I’ve also seen a lot of photos online, especially Pinterest, where he’s loving up on some Golden Retrievers. There’s just something about people who love dogs that makes my heart extremely full. I will link the video of Nathan’s puppy surprise interview (which was an adoption and fundraising event, so cute!) below.

I’m also in love with his bubbly personality! He had a lot of fun playing NHL 18 with his friend Brayden Schenn of the Saint Louis Blues. His giggle is extremely endearing, at least from my viewpoint. He seems like the kind of person you’d invite over for tacos and Star Trek.