This spring, for the first time, the roles have reversed.
In previous years, as the calendar flipped to May, you would sometimes spot Nathan MacKinnon at the Stubborn Goat in Halifax, perched close to any flat-screen that featured the Pittsburgh Penguins’ championship quest.
Sidney Crosby, after all, is both a buddy and a mentor of his.
“I would be back home and I’d go the sports bar — it’s not really a sports bar, but they have TVs — and I’d watch him play with a couple of my buddies,” said MacKinnon, the marquee man for the Colorado Avalanche and arguably the biggest star still skating in an upset-heavy installment of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“I feel like I was kind of in fan mode. I was so happy for him when he won those two Cups (in 2016-17) and I definitely learned a lot from that. But like I’ve said, you don’t really know it until you’ve arrived in it and played in it, to really learn. You can’t really say in words what it’s like.
“I’m starting to experience a little bit of it. He has done 10 times more than I have, but I can relate to him a little bit now, I guess.”
MacKinnon, of course, hopes he won’t be back home for a while.
The 23-year-old speed-demon was a dominant force in a first-round ouster of the Calgary Flames, advancing to the NHL’s Elite Eight for the first time in his six seasons at the highest level. The underdog Avs are now up against the San Jose Sharks, earning a split on the road prior to Tuesday’s Game 3 at Pepsi Center.
Sid, on the other hand, was eliminated much earlier than usual.
Perhaps, there is a table open at the Stubborn Goat?
Read more on our boys here:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/text-sidney-crosby-helped-nathan-mackinnon-dominate-playoffs/
-Ian
Credits: Ottawa Citizen and Sportsnet.ca
