B
eyond the adaptability, the leadership and any of the details that make him otherworldly out on the ice, there’s one defining quality that’s played perhaps the most significant role in MacKinnon’s success. Jon Greenwood’s seen it from the beginning. He’s known MacKinnon since the centreman was 11 years old, coaching him for the first time back in Cole Harbour, and skating with him in the summers still. And what’s stood out most to him over the years is the unrelenting fire that drives the superstar forward.

“You have this other-level skater combined with this other-level competitive beast — that’s what made him successful at a young age,” Greenwood says. “And, I think, to this day. I mean, he’s almost 30 years old and I would say that’s still what he is today. … He’s just a giant version of what he was at 11.”

The coach remembers trying to help a young MacKinnon harness that competitive nature. “You want that drive in everybody — you just wish you could squeeze some out of him and share it with everybody else,” Greenwood says. “There were days and games and moments where we had to sort of pat him on the back and say, ‘Hey, relax a little bit.’ But we also knew deep down that’s what made him special.”

Murphy, his childhood teammate, laughs thinking back to the many times he saw his pal’s competitive fire come out. He remembers a kayak race he and MacKinnon competed in when they were 11. Murphy was bigger at the time, so he was in the back of the boat, trying to follow MacKinnon’s quick-paced strokes up front.

“He was just a beast as a kid,” Murphy remembers. “During the race, I wasn’t the best and I tipped the boat. We didn’t finish well. He wasn’t overly thrilled with me.” They yelled at each other in the water, then laughed about it.