Breaking down which Colorado Avalanche players made the first 32 of NHL All-Star Weekend
There was only one Colorado Avalanche player to make the first 32-player NHL All-Star roster.
The Colorado Avalanche certainly need some improvements as they head closer to the end of the season than the beginning, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re in a bad position. They have been atop the Central division and that’s where they currently are after Thursday night’s win over the Dallas Stars. As we head closer to the All-Star weekend, one player on the Avs made the initial team: Nathan MacKinnon.
Historically, the fact that Nathan MacKinnon was the Colorado Avalanche player to make the team upon its reveal is no surprise to anybody. it’s also no surprise that he has been on a tear lately. We’re seeing the MacKinnon that we are used to and have been used to year in and year out. The thing that is awesome is that we’re witnessing him overcome a stretch in which he did not have a single goal.
From November 11th through November 24th (a seven-game stretch), MacKinnon went without a single goal. He has 15 goals since that drought, putting him at 22 goals in 39 games. Add 42 assists to his point total and you have 64 on the year. He’s currently tied with Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov for first place in points.
The point here (no pun intended), is that even while not producing goals for the Colorado Avalanche, MacKinnon still made a significant impact. He was feeding his teammates the puck and getting them in proper position for them to get the puck in the net.
From November 20th through December 27th, MacKinnon had at least one point in every single game (19 games), which is an Avalanche/Nordiques record.
It’s incredible to think about the fact that he would be blowing the point totals out of the water had he not gone through the drought. He may have been a little banged up (heck, it’s hockey!) but I am certainly not taking anything away from him because he still made an impact. He’s very deserving of an All-Star appearance.
MacKinnon has scored the overtime winning goal in back-to-backs games.
This is Nathan MacKinnon’s seventh-straight All-Star nomination. Truly remarkable.