LAS VEGAS — In the minutes between accepting hockey’s two most prestigious individual regular-season trophies and posing for a photo shoot with them, Nathan MacKinnon‘s phone illuminated with the names of legends.
A couple of past Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award winners, close friend and training partner Sidney Crosby and the Great One, wasted no time calling in with congratulations.
Welcome to the club.
Your membership was overdue.
“Always pretty cool to see ‘Wayne Gretzky’ pop up on your phone,” a humbled MacKinnon said, looking at the Hart. “Seeing his name, like, 100 times on this thing too.
“Every player I grew up idolizing has their name on these things. So, to be a part of that company is surreal. Hasn’t really sunk in.”
The most desired prize for competitors like MacKinnon and the players sliding into his “recents,” of course, is the Stanley Cup.
But having his name etched on those silver, rounded edges with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022, there were still a couple unchecked boxes on MacKinnon’s decorated career.
Thrice before this gala at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the writers had voted MacKinnon as a Hart finalist — but never the winner.
On this night, with a whopping 150 first-place ballots (to runner-up Nikita Kucherov’s 50 and Connor McDavid’s one), MacKinnon and his 140-point performance burst away from the field of 100-assist superstars.
“A couple of times I was nominated, and it was never even close,” MacKinnon said. “I had a chance in 2018 (when he finished second to Taylor Hall), and then I thought I had a chance tonight.
“Being a competitive guy, you want to win anything you can.”
MacKinnon confessed he never thought he’d win these trophies, as writers and players agreed he had the best season in a year full of standouts.
“The awards should speak for themselves,” said Vezina champ Connor Hellebuyck, whose Jets fell victim to MacKinnon’s Avalanche in Round 1. “He is a phenomenal player, and he does have a stronghold on the game. I think he continues to get better, and that’s what you want to see in your lead guys.”
What you don’t want to see is a superstar resting on laurels.
So, even with his trophy case crowding, MacKinnon has been fueled by Colorado’s “painful” second-round loss to the Dallas Stars.
Yeah, he kept tabs on the post-season after elimination, but with the Cup Final’s games not starting until 9:30 p.m. Nova Scotia time, he’d often go to sleep after one period.
Like a kid. Or a motivated grownup who needed to rise early, eat yams, and start training.
“My girlfriend, Charlotte, I don’t see her as much as other guys do at home. It’s really a 24/7 thing for me. So, a lot of sacrifice,” said MacKinnon, whose reputation for pushing teammates comes honestly.
“I always like playing with guys who are firing, where you have to try to tame them a little bit instead of trying to get guys going. Definitely trying to tame myself every day,” he admits.
“I just get so invested in it. And I just love the day-to-day grind of the NHL. I think that’s why I’m sitting here right now. I do love to work. I love the process of things. I love guys who are like that, and we have a lot of guys on the team that are like that. But, yeah, definitely trying to shape my approach.”
Well, this season, MacKinnon’s approach is shaped like a Hart.
Deservedly.
Finally.
Fox’s Fast Five
• Hellebuyck (2020, 2024) joins fellow finalist Sergei Bobrovsky (2013, 2017) as the only active goalies with two Vezina trophies on the shelf.
He was a near-unanimous winner, earning 31 of 32 first-place votes.
The Jets’ netminder was also the only goalie to receive a first-place Hart vote, finishing sixth overall in MVP voting behind five forwards.
“There’s only one thing left on my mind, and that’s the Stanley Cup. So anything I can do to get there, I’m gonna start doing,” vowed Hellebuyck, who watched snippets of the playoffs when his two kids under two weren’t bogarting the TV with cartoons.
“Sometimes it’s heartbreaking. Because you’re not in it. And it looks extremely fun, and I want to be part of that,” he says. “But on the other hand, it’s seeing guys achieve their dreams — so it’s pretty cool.”
• First-time Norris winner Quinn Hughes made a point to laud fellow finalists Roman Josi and Cale Makar, who had each won the trophy in the past.
“That was really nice,” says Josi, who lamented that his Norris win occurred in a COVID year. No splashy Vegas party then.
“I feel like he took extra time to talk about me and Cale, and I think it shows how good of a guy he is.”
• Classy move by MacKinnon, opening his Ted Lindsay acceptance speech by shouting out teammate and close friend Andrew Cogliano — who called it a career after 17 seasons and 1,294 games.
• Josi joined Shea Weber as the only three-time Norris finalist in Predators history and was quick to fire Weber a congratulatory text Tuesday when his former captain was named a first-ballot Hockey Hall of Famer.
“I was so happy when I saw it. He had such a big influence on my career. On the ice, off the ice,” Josi said, “there’s so many things I learned from him. So to see him recognized and go into the Hall of Fame now is so well deserved. I mean, he’s one of the hardest-working guys.”
• MacKinnon would love to skate on Crosby’s wing for Team Canada and notes that teammate Cale Makar got his Ted Lindsay vote.
“But I put thought into it,” MacKinnon smiles.