We don't produce many NHL players around here compared to other parts of the country, but the ones who do make it tend to be prolific scorers.

Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand and Nathan MacKinnon grew up playing minor hockey on the same Halifax-area ice surfaces are now dominating the National Hockey League. Crosby and MacKinnon are both from Cole Harbour while Marchand is from Hammonds Plains.

They represent half of the six Nova Scotians playing in the NHL and are three of the top eight scorers.

By comparison, there are 184 Ontario-born hockey players who have played in the NHL this season, yet only two are in the NHL's Top 10 in scoring.

"It's awesome to see,” says Kevin Fougere, the manager of Bubba Rays, a Halifax sports bar.

Vancouver Canucks Scout Paul Gallagher agrees, and this is something he saw this coming years ago.

“I coached Sidney twice,” Gallagher said. “I had him as a five-year-old and again as a 13-year-old.”

Gallagher says the talent of the three players is undeniable, but what sets them apart is their constant effort to improve their game and hone their skills.

“(It’s) their ability to work off ice during the off season,” Gallagher says.

If you listen to Crosby, he makes hockey sound fairly simple.

“I think when you're on your game your instincts are there and you trust them, you're in the right spots, the puck seems to find you a little bit more,” he said.

Long-time hockey executive Alex Joseph says 21st century players have more tools at their disposal than ever before.

“The whole process for a young player today is so much better,” Joseph said.

He says Crosby, Marchand and MacKinnon were born to be great at what they do, but they also deserve credit for taking full advantage of the super-charged elite hockey environment they grew up in.

“The preparation, the summer training, the hockey schools, Quebec major junior is here,” Joseph says. “When I played, there was junior B, there was no major junior.”

At sports bars in Halifax, customers cheer for all three hockey players, but one still gets louder cheers than the other two.

“I'd say Crosby gets the edge for sure,” Fougere says. “There are a lot of Crosby fans that still come around.”

For now. Fougere says MacKinnon and Marchand are more popular than ever and he expects them to pick up even more fans as they continue their assault on the NHL scoring race.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Paul Hollingsworth.