Colorado Avalanche’s Matt Duchene Puts A Smile On, For Now

Colorado Avalanche star Matt Duchene took the ice Thursday night for the first time this season and made the best of his situation as the biggest name on the trade block in the NHL

What started as a night of skepticism and nervousness for many Avalanche fans ended on a positive note as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Dallas Stars 5-1 Thursday at the Pepsi Center.  They were coming off a 4-1 loss Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights where they didn’t show much growth from last season. But to be fair, it’s hard to draw definitive conclusions with a lineup mixed with players of different skill levels.

The Avalanche are in year two with head coach Jared Bednar behind the bench. They are looking for a much stronger season than last year where they finished in last place and were the worst team in the salary cap era.  It’s hard to fault Bednar for that since he was thrusted into the job just before the season started, but this year the Avalanche are hoping the only direction they can go is up.

But standing in the way of the Avalanche turning a new leaf is the distraction that is Matt Duchene.  For the past year, he has been in trade talks around the league, but general manager Joe Sakic hasn’t found a partner to match his high request.  Duchene being used as trade bait has put a black eye on the Avalanche’s organization and set them up for a potential distraction in the locker room.

Such was the discussion when Duchene showed up for training camp and in a 15 second interview, he did everything but demand a trade publicly.

When the Avalanche were shooting promotional material for the upcoming season, Duchene was caught on camera sporting a less than thrilled facial expression.

And to top it off, Duchene hasn’t been dressing with the team after practice. He did this mainly to avoid the media hounding him about his future in Colorado.

But when Duchene took the ice Thursday night, he received a loud ovation from the small crowd at the Pepsi Center.  He was also an alternate captain for the team.  Duchene started the game on a line with Nail Yakupov and rookie Alexander Kerfoot who combined for six points.

He played as if none of this trade rumor talk bothered him at all.  Duchene was excellent in the faceoff circle winning 81% of his draws and skated hard all night.  He looked like a leader out there showing poise, good decision making, and a very quick release on his wrist shot.

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Then something special happened.

Almost six minutes into the third period, Duchene broke free and put a quick shot past Stars goaltender Landon Bow.  With open arms, Duchene hugged his team mates in celebration to cap a great night for the Avs.  He proceeded to skate over to the bench and fist bump all the other players showing he can lead by example even in adverse personal situations.

Duchene would love nothing better than to just get back to playing hockey, but the reality is that he probably can’t.  The sad part is that he is the guy you would want to build around.  Duchene’s been in the league eight years now and is only 26, he’s a fantastic top six player, and has the ability to take over a game.

Tonight the Avs fans got to see their young forwards excel on the power-play, their starting goalie Semyon Varlamov nearly get a shutout, a defensive prospect emerge in David Warsofsky, and some team camaraderie in the form of defenseman Duncan Siemens pounding Dallas Stars’ Remi Elie for boarding one of his team mates.

Next: Avalanche Season Preview

It sucks that this is the kind of growth you want to see out of a last place team, led tonight by a guy who doesn’t even know if he’ll be playing in Colorado for much longer.  It says a lot about the Avalanche, but more about Duchene who put his head down and did the right thing to come out and play hard.  It’s inevitable that he will be dealt sometime in the near future, but it’s encouraging that he is willing to show some of the kids how to be a pro.  It’s a shame the business side of hockey is getting in the way of that.