MacKinnon on Prospects Game, roommates, testing

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 will serve 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.

Hi everyone!

It's been pretty exciting here in Halifax while we're getting set for the Top Prospects Game.

On Monday night we actually got back to our hotel at 9:30 p.m., ate dinner and then got back to the room. It's funny because [Halifax linemate] Jonathan Drouin is my roommate. I was pretty happy that he didn't snore, too. I don't room with him on the road and he's a good roommate. I usually room with Ryan Falkenham when with Halifax.

Jo did ask me if I snored but I told him I didn't, so we were all good. Jo is quiet and good. We kind of watched television and talked hockey all night but we shut it down early.

This morning I participated in the on- and off-ice testing. I came in not knowing much about it. It's pretty game-similar for the most part but there were some things that you wouldn't do. But they test on-ice ability and it's a good way for scouts to see what kind of intangibles you possess.

It was pretty cool the way they did things and I was satisfied with how I performed. There were some things where I wasn't too sure how to approach -- whether I should go tight [around cones] or more to the outside. It was weird at first, but we all got accustomed to everything.

Now that the testing is over, I'm looking forward to the game Wednesday. It's going to be fun. We have a good team with a lot of skilled players and playing in our home rink in front of the Mooseheads fans is going to be a cool experience for everybody and I'm excited for the guys to get a taste for what we go through every night.

I'm hoping to get a picture with our coach [Don Cherry] at some point. [ed. Note: MacKinnon did get the picture].

Thanks for reading everyone!

Follow Nathan MacKinnon on Twitter at: @Mackinnon9