Avs superstar Nathan MacKinnon doubles down, says he would fight again

Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon is ready to drop the gloves again.

Mackinnon made headlines 10 days ago when he beat up Matt Dumba of the Minnesota Wild, creating quite the stir locally about whether or not he should be fighting. He ended up only missing one game because of the bout, but there was real fear it could have been a lot worse.

Head coach Jared Bednar said a couple days later that he didn’t love MacKinnon fighting, but certainly wouldn’t stop him. That too was questioned by fans, since Bednar is the man in charge and should be able to (in theory) tell guys what they can and can’t do.

Well after Colorado’s 6-4 win on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, we finally heard from MacKinnon postgame for the first time since the fight heard around the state. He was asked if he’d fight again given the injury scare, and MacKinnon didn’t back down.

“I know what I did was the right thing,” he said of fighting Dumba after the big hit on Mikko Rantanen. “And even if I was out for a couple of weeks, there’s no regrets. That’s just our team culture and I would do it again and get hurt.”

That’s big time from MacKinnon. He clearly heard the chatter about what he should and shouldn’t do and ignored it. It’s his team and his choice if he want to scrap with someone. Even Bednar apparently doesn’t have the authority to dictate that decision, or he just doesn’t want to.

MacKinnon fighting is a sneaky part of his identity. He’s good for three to five tussles a year and certainly isn’t perceived as just a “pretty” superstar around the NHL. There’s some toughness and grit there along with the dazzling skills. The rest of the team needs to keep up, as the Avs continue to shed their “soft” label that’s come with three straight second-round exits.

The real season (the playoffs) starts in just about a month. It’s clear Mackinnon is raring to go.

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