MacKinnon disappointed, but glad for experience

Nathan MacKinnon is in his second season with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this year. The 6-foot, 182-pound forward has 23 goals, 55 points and a plus-29 rating in 32 games for the Mooseheads in 2012-13. As a rookie, MacKinnon finished second to 2012 first-round draft pick Mikhail Grigorenko (Buffalo Sabres) in voting for the QMJHL Rookie of the Year award. MacKinnon, who served as captain for Team Cherry at the 2013 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Halifax on Wednesday, recently represented Team Canada at the World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia. He has offered to provide NHL.com with a monthly blog leading up to the 2013 NHL Draft in Newark, N.J.

Hello, hockey fans.

Well, Team Cherry lost to Team Orr, 3-0, on Wednesday in the Top Prospects Game at the Metro Centre.

I thought we generated a lot of offense and I would have liked to get those chances back, but I thought it was a real up-tempo game. Coming out, I thought it would be a little more scrambled, but both sides played hard and it could have gone either way. I really thought we had some chances, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

The goalies played really well. We knew the goalies would be very strong, and I thought our goalies [Tristan Jarry of Edmonton and Zachary Fucale of Halifax] played really well. It could have gone either way, and hats off to the goalies.

While the goalies for Team Orr played well, I thought I could have been a little more accurate with my shots. On my first shift, I missed, and on the second shift, Jo [Drouin] gave me a pass and I hit the goalie's blocker. There were a few other opportunities to bury and I didn't, so it was tough.

Overall, it was a special experience. We have a great fan base, as you saw, and it's definitely tough not to get the win for them or a couple of goals. But, like I said, it was a great experience. I thought it was really cool to play for Don Cherry.

As far as my linemates [Jonathan Drouin and Ryan Hartman], we had chemistry. I thought [Hartman] played well; he's a smart and heads-up player. I'm definitely looking forward to playing with Jonathan [in Halifax] in the second half of the season, and I'm sure Ryan will have a great second half as well [in Plymouth].

I'm looking forward to the second half of the season in Halifax. We have a tough three games in three days stretch coming up, and I think I speak for everyone that we're looking forward to it.

Follow Nathan MacKinnon on Twitter at: @Mackinnon9