Nathan MacKinnon & Sidney Crosby Talk Between Each Playoff Game

The Avalanche are currently one win away from winning the Stanley Cup after a dominating postseason run. Even so, people are talking about the fact that Nathan MacKinnon scored his first goal of the Finals in Game 4. Personally, I'm in the camp of 'who cares?' However, if there's something to talk about I'm on board.

Nathan MacKinnon has been open about his mental struggles, often falling prey to intrusive thoughts of inadequacy suffered under lack of postseason success. In other words, he puts a ton of pressure on himself to be the best & ultimately win the Stanley Cup. But the Avalanche have gone through their share of regular season & postseason struggles in the past five years. After making the playoffs in MacKinnon's first season, the Avs were the league's worst team within three seasons, putting up a historically bad season, managing merely 48 points in an 82 game campaign. In an interview with Spittin' Chiclets following last season's disappointing playoff loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, MacKinnon expressed that he went to a dark place mentally.

The pressure he puts on himself is fair, as a number one overall pick & generally renowned superstar anything short of a Stanley Cup is a disappointment. Especially when one of his best friends is Sidney Crosby, who, last I checked, knows a thing or two about hockey. Their friendship is not a secret; both hailing from Halifax, NS, the two have appeared in Tim Horton's commercials, dozens of charity events, and they even train together in the summers. In an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Kevin Weekes came to MacKinnon's defense after one of the co-hosts tried arguing MacKinnon disappears in the playoffs:

Sidney Crosby reportedly told Weekesy that the two talk between each game, with the elder offering wisdom to what you could call his apprentice. Often, Crosby has to tell the Avalanche center to put less pressure on himself. Which I'm sure resonates with MacKinnon, who employs a sports psychiatrist to help cope. Crosby's three Stanley Cups are among the NHL's most since 2009, so MacKinnon would be wise to take his friend's advice to heart, which I'm sure he has. The Avalanche are an absolute wagon, so even if MacKinnon isn't lighting the lamp left & right, they have the depth to compensate. Luckily for them though, as Weekes suggests, his playoff points-per-game (1.324, per quanthockey.com) is sixth best all-time.

The Avs are on the cusp of greatness, and with the coupling of MacKinnon, Captain Gabriel Landeskog, star W Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, coach Jared Bednar, with GM Joe Sakic at the helm, Colorado will have nothing to worry about going forward. Sakic has positioned the Avs brilliantly. They do have ten UFAs to sign, but knowing Burnaby Joe that ought not be an issue. Furthermore, the only big-ticket contracts pending include Nazem Kadri, Valeri Nichushkin, G Darcy Kuemper, and to a lesser extent Josh Manson & André Burakovsky. The elephant in the room is Nathan MacKinnon's contract expiring after the 2022-23 season. Although, depending on how interested he is in following Crosby's lead, MacKinnon could opt for a 'hometown discount' much like Crosby did. Though Pittsburgh is extraordinarily fortunate that Crosby's susceptibility to superstition is unparalleled, as displayed in his well-below market value cap-hit of $8.787 million.

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