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Favorites About Colorado Avalanche Matt Duchene

By Nadia Archuleta |
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Matt Duchene

, our Dutchy, turns 24. In 2009, when the Colorado Avalanche selected him, he was the highest draft pick they had ever taken. He went third overall, behind

John Tavares

to the New York Islanders and

Victor Hedman

to the Tampa Bay Lightning. (They have since had even higher draft picks, but that’s a different story.

A year that Duchene goes third — that’s a talent-filled year. In any case, the Avalanche selected him as a franchise player, they type of guy they intended to build their team around. He’s had his ups and downs same as the team, but he’s certainly become the face of our franchise.

In honor of his birthday, let’s explore some of our favorite aspects of the Colorado Avalanche center.

Duchene’s Enthusiasm

Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene’s exuberance is infectious. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

First of all, 24 is still young, but it’s not crazy young anymore. Duchene is nearing the quarter-century mark, and that’s a significant milestone. For a lot of us, it’s all downhill from there. For hockey players, especially forwards, it’s when you hit your stride toward you peak.

That said, Duchene still so much looks like the fresh-faced, idealistic 18-year-old who cracked the team right away. The kid who stayed with an older teammate, Adam Foote, to still have the family experience:

I suspect even when he’s in his 30s, and eventually retires — hopefully from the Avs — he’ll still be that youngster to some of us. His enthusiasm seems to have never matured. And that’s a good thing because mature enthusiasm is sedate — and do we really want our Dutchy to become sedate?

To me, and to many of us, Matt Duchene will always be this kid:

He’ll always be the kid who declares, “Yes!” when his favorite team selects him in the NHL Draft. (And the kid who calls his dad an “idiot” in his nervous exuberance — that’s pretty precious, too.)

Duchene’s Dutchyisms

Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene is always yapping about something! Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Duchene has a very interesting turn of phrase. Just listen to his interviews, and he’s often coming up with an unusual way of putting things.

I first noticed it when he remarked that one of his teammates had “cleaned up the garbage around the net.” He meant, of course, that his teammate had scored a goal on a rebound. That may be a common hockey term for the play, but I’ve only ever heard Duchene say it.

He’s got a few other unique Dutchyisms.

“It’s hammer down. It’s a marathon and a sprint at the same time towards camp.”

First of all, a marathon and a sprint at the same time — only a dynamic guy like Duchene would come up with something like that. Plus, “hammer down” — time to get down to business, I gather.

Speaking of getting down to business:

“You’ve got to do your boots up, and go out and get it done.”

I guess Dutchy could technically be talking about doing his hockey boots up, but somehow I just end up picturing combat boots!

One of my personal favorites, and one I tweet every time the Avs go into the third with a lead:

“Step on the throat, and put the nail in the coffin.”

That would certainly put the end to the opponents’ aspirations!

Dutchy came up with one at the beginning of the season that makes me chuckle:

“When you’re going non-stop and things are up and down like a toilet seat, it’s hard to stop that.”

Considering how the Avs started the season, the toilet seat comparison was apt, but, boy, was that a good one!

Duchene Tweets

Matt Duchene has nothing on teammate Erik Johnson when it comes to humorous tweets, but our Dutchy is as earnest on Twitter as he is on the ice.

Twitter is where Duchene’s obsession with country music is most evident:

Of course, he apparently loves his dog, Paisley (named after Brad), quite a lot:

Can we just take a moment to celebrate the fact that he went through the trouble to create that second tableau?

Duchene Goals

Of course, we love Matt Duchene’s personality, but he’s one of our hockey stars first and foremost. He’s the face of our team because of his goals.

Let’s start with one of his standard goals. He snipes a shot and celebrates with his typical punch down. (Or maybe that’s the hammer down!)

Personally, we’ll always remember that time Matt Duchene was so fast the officials didn’t notice he was in the offensive zone way before the puck:

The Nashville Predators didn’t appreciate it, but we sure did!

Of course, Duchene will always be famous for The Dutchy, his high-skill toe-drag goal:

He’s even got a T-shirt about it!

However, my favorite move is what I think of as the real Dutchy. It’s his patented spin-o-rama behind the net. Apparently he copied it from one of his idols, our very own Peter Forsberg. However, his take on it is pure finesse — and pure Matt Duchene.

So, what do you think, Avs Nation? What’s your favorite aspect of Matt Duchene?

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