MacKinnon; Mooseheads’ Home Brew

  The Halifax Mooseheads are crushing the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with alarming pace to all of those concerned in the long, long list of superbly talented rivals. The club is currently best in class, with a 16-1-1 record. The loss against Rimouski in the shootout ended a 14-game winning streak, a game which five different goal scorers’ efforts wasn’t enough for the win. Having one of the most exciting teams in all of the QMJHL more than makes up for that little blip on the radar, though, as they have some of the most talented players the league has to offer.

  Though no team with such a record as the Mooseheads, who currently sit at the top of the league with 33 points, is led by one man, Nathan MacKinnon is standing out amongst the roster.

  Halifax-born MacKinnon, at 17 years of age, is on fire in his second season with the Mooseheads as he currently sits in sixth place among the league’s top point producers, having netted 18 goals and 30 points in 18 games. He is currently on pace to eclipse his rookie year points total of 31 goals and 78 points in 58 games.

  Success has always followed Nathan MacKinnon, as his numbers as an early teenager have always indicated. At an atom aged player, MacKinnon would score 200 points in 50 games. At twelve and thirteen years of age in Bantam AAA he would scored 110 and 145 points respectively. Having chosen the same patch as superstar Sidney Crosby (and quite wisely), MacKinnon left home to pursue hockey at Shattuck St. Mary’s boarding school. In Bantam Tier 1 he totaled 101 points in 58 games. In his second season with Shattuck, he finished with 93 points in forty games played, and was second on the team with 45 goals, and to top it off, he had 70 penalty minutes, underlining his aggressive nature of play. In 15 contests in U-17 and U-18 at the National level for his come country, he has totaled 11 goals and 23 points.

  MacKinnon has had a watchful eye on him all along. Widely praised and presumed as the eventual first overall draft pick in the coming NHL Entry Draft, MacKinnon nearly skipped out on the QMJHL all together. Just as he is expected to be number one looking forward to his future NHL career, he was also projected to be first overall in the 2011 QMJHL Draft. The Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the QMJHL was awarded the first pick that year, and naturally, chose MacKinnon. Meanwhile, speculation flew rampant that he may opt for college hockey instead. But here he was, with the gates wide open in QMJHL – a teenager’s dream come true. The only problem; he doesn’t speak French. So, with a trade in mind, his new team was happy to oblige him. Why? Because the return was rather large, and the “Viking Ship” knew just how badly Halifax wanted their native son. MacKinnon's rights were traded to the Halifax Mooseheads for Carl Gélinas, Francis Turbide, the Mooseheads' first round draft picks in 2012 and 2013 respectively, and the Quebec Remparts' first round draft pick in 2013, previously acquired by Halifax. The Mooseheads had been attempting to acquire MacKinnon since Baie-Comeau was awarded the first overall pick, and now they had him.

  MacKinnon was also selected to represent the best the QMJHL had to offer as he will be paired up side-by-side with the best the league has to offer, up against the best Russia has to throw at them with the inclusion of last year’s first overall draft pick, Nail Yakupov in the Subway Super Series. MacKinnon will see plenty of looks from an increased presence of NHL scouts throughout the tournament, as he has
exposed himself as a truly gifted young forward.

  MacKinnon is the real deal, and when he becomes eligible for the NHL Entry Draft in June every General Manager will hold his breath until the name is called. Nathan MacKinnon will be great.

- Kendall Grubbs