In the gym and on the ice, the kid would let The Kid go first. Nathan MacKinnon would watch Sidney Crosby start whatever exercise or drill they were doing. He would study his technique. He would study his intensity. And then he would try to match them.

But on the hill, it was a race to the top.

“I’m sure he’d say it, too,” MacKinnon said, smiling. “I’d beat him pretty bad running up the hill. That’s something where I’d push him. On the track or running up hills, I’m pretty quick, I guess. He gets pretty fired up. He’s got these short, wide legs, and I’ve got these long legs.”

Laugh.

“He uses that as an excuse sometimes.”

For so long, MacKinnon has followed Crosby. He grew up in the same place (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia). He attended the same school (Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minn.). He went in the same spot in the NHL draft (No. 1 overall), going to the Colorado Avalanche in 2013 after Crosby went to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005.

Now he shares the same trainer (Andy O’Brien).

View photos After claiming the Calder Trophy, MacKinnon spent the summer working out with Hart Trophy winner Sidney Crosby. (AP) More

They spent this summer side by side – MacKinnon, the reigning winner of the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year; Crosby, the reigning winner of the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. They worked out together in Los Angeles and Halifax and Estero, Fla., and Vail, Colo., and they formed a deeper bond.

MacKinnon, who turned 19 on Sept. 1, seems like a younger brother. He looks up to Crosby, who turned 27 on Aug. 7. He copies him. He competes with him. He loves to beat him up the hill and razz him about being over the hill someday.

“When you see a guy three, four times a week and on weekends and stuff – hang out, get dinners all the time – you become close with him,” MacKinnon said. “Or you hate the guy, I guess.”

Laugh.

“We’re pretty good friends,” MacKinnon continued. “I try to keep him young, because when he’s 30, 33 or whatever, I’ll be in my prime. He says he’s nervous for that.”

MacKinnon said he added about 12 or 13 pounds of muscle while keeping his body fat the same, about 6 or 7 percent. He’s listed at 195 pounds but said he weighs about 208 now. Scary thought for the rest of the NHL, considering how explosive he was before filling into his body.

“Having to chase him around on the ice has probably been a good thing for me, too,” said Crosby, looking as chiseled as ever himself. “He’s pretty eager and full of energy.”

* * * * *

MacKinnon made it look so easy. He entered the NHL at 18 – a young 18. He moved in with veteran Jean-Sebastien Giguere and lived out of a suitcase for weeks, until his mom visited and unpacked for him. He would forget to bring a toothbrush and toothpaste on the road. He would need his teammates to get him to the bus on time.

Yet he racked up 24 goals and 63 points, leading rookies in scoring, showing off tremendous speed and skill. He went on a 13-game point streak, breaking the NHL record for 18-year-olds set in 1979-80 by … Wayne Gretzky. His teammates teased him by calling him “Wayne” or “Wayner.” That made him uncomfortable. At first.

“He would never say, ‘I’m Wayne,’ or anything like that,” said Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog. “But I think he liked it a little bit.”

Why wouldn’t he?

“It was cool,” MacKinnon said. “It was the only Gretzky record I’ll ever break.”

View photos MacKinnon got his first taste of the NHL playoffs last spring, bowing out in first round versus Minnesota. (AP) More

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