The Mile High City is an MVP town.

Den­ver Nuggets star Niko­la Jokic was at Ball Are­na ahead of the Col­orado Avalanche home open­er Sat­ur­day night to help rec­og­nize Nathan MacK­in­non, the 2024 Hart Tro­phy and Ted Lind­say Award win­ner, both giv­en to the NHL’s most valu­able play­er. Jokic walked out to cen­ter ice at Ball Are­na with the Hart Tro­phy while wear­ing a MacK­in­non jersey.

MacK­in­non set Avalanche fran­chise records with 140 points and at least one in 35 con­sec­u­tive home games last sea­son. He also estab­lished new career highs with 51 goals and 405 shots on goal, the lat­ter of which led the NHL. His home point streak was also the sec­ond-longest in league his­to­ry, behind only a 40-game stretch by Wayne Gret­zky with the Edmon­ton Oilers.

Jokic is a three-time NBA most valu­able play­er. He won back-to-back MVPs in 2021 and 2022 before col­lect­ing his third this past season.

Den­ver is the first city to have the NHL and NBA MVPs in the same sea­son since Los Ange­les in 1989 when Gret­zky won with the Kings and Mag­ic John­son won with the Lakers.

MacK­in­non became the third play­er in Avs his­to­ry to win the Hart, join­ing Joe Sakic (2001) and Peter Fors­berg (2003). Sakic also won the Ted Lind­say in 2001.

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