Colorado Avalanche: Nathan MacKinnon Speaks about Fame and the NHL

Altitude TV interviewed Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon before the All Star Break. Find out what kind of headspace he was in.

Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon sat down with Altitude TV before the All Star Break and gave us some insight into him.

One of the things he talked about which I found interesting was how he’s dealing with fame. You might remember earlier in the season TMZ tried to ask him some questions, and he joked “I’m not famous enough for TMZ.”

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There are two factors working against him in that respect. He’s a hockey player, and NHLers just aren’t as famous as other sports stars. And he plays for a small market team.

Nonetheless, those who love hockey know who Nathan MacKinnon is. And if they don’t love him, they at least respect him.

I think that’s a good kind of famous for a man of MacKinnon’s ilk. He’s polite, but he’s not known for being the most gregarious young man. I don’t think he’d like if a lot of people were fawning over him.

That said, he does appreciate the young fans — he says it’s especially cool to see the young hockey players wearing his jersey.

A really interesting tidbit — growing up in Nova Scotia, he didn’t have his own NHL team to root for. MacKinnon admits the following:

“I probably only saw three or four games live until I played in one.”

Wow, imagine that. When he made his debut with the Colorado Avalanche on October 2, 2013, that was maybe his fifth-ever NHL game to ever attend in person.

He earned two assists, both on Jamie McGinn goals.

Side rant: You know what would be super cool? If we could get one single MacKinnon interview without having to bring up Sidney Crosby. And to include video! Let’s. Focus. On. MacKinnon.

Anyway, in the next segment, which is actually about Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon, he talks a little about what it was like that first month back after the 48-point season. According to MacKinnon, he was “gripping the stick so hard” because he wanted to have a bounceback season.

After that, he relaxed — or MacKinnon’s version of relaxing. He’s a pretty high-strung young man.

Indeed, he’s also renowned for being hyper-focused on his golf game. He says, “I try to do well in everything I do.” Yet he does try to dial it back a notch.

Nathan MacKinnon also offered some insight about what he’s learned in the last six years, from the time he was an 18-year-old to his 24-year-old self now.

Recently, MacKinnon has become a little infamous for his diet regiment. Apparently he’s to a point where he’ll make comments on his teammates’ eating habits because he wants to make sure everyone is a well-oiled machine. Unsurprising, then, that he commented that he’s so different now because of how he treats his body.

I really like seeing these kinds of interviews with Nathan MacKinnon. He’s not usually so relaxed in pre- and post-game interviews with the Colorado Avalanche.