Colorado Avalanche rookie center Matt Duchene was awarded the prestigious honor of NHL Rookie of the Month for December. Scoring 5 goals and 8 assists in merely 14 games, Matt Duchene may well have cemented himself as the top draft pick of this season.
Nipping at the heels of New York Islanders first round draft pick (1st overall) John Tavares (28 points), Duchene (27 points) is clearly finding his niche in the NHL. With 4 points in his last 5 games alone (Tavares has a donut in his last 5), Dutchy will have a chance to show the League who’s better Wednesday night when the Islanders take on the #1 Avalanche at the Can in Denver.
Duchene was interviewed today on NHL Live, a daily radio show broadcast online and on XM, discussing everything from starting in the league, the Avs hot start and the crowd situation in Denver.
While it was hard for me to grab everything he said in the brief phone call, I did manage some excerpts. When asked about his play in December, Duchene said the magic came from adjusting to the league. He said the NHL has less room for errors and a quicker pace and he had a bit of a learning curve to adjust for. Duchene claims to have struggled a bit initially due to learning a new system, compared to that in Brampton, but he managed to change his style of play.
The primary focus for Dutchy was on keeping things simple and converting on on given opportunities. This lead not only to the Rookie of the Month honor, but also to the NHL 3rd Star of the Week for the week spanning the end of Nov. and the beginning of Dec.
On Colorado’s hot start Duchene claims that the Avs surprised themselves out of the game as everyone was predicting a terrible year but now the team merely expects to win. “If you expect to win, you will win,” said Duchene.
Matt, 18, enjoys the NHL experience much more over that of playing in Juniors. In the NHL, “your job’s hockey,” said Duchene. With a focus on both education and hockey at the Junior level, it begins to feel a lot like only playing on the weekends. But the best part of being a pro is “getting to do your favorite thing in the world, everyday.”
On the Colorado crowds: “The crowd’s been ok, they’re starting to come back.” He’s hoping for a big one on Wednesday.
Clark Re-evaluated
Brett Clark may be a potential scratch Wednesday night against the Islanders due to what the Denver Post is calling a “possible chipped bone in his face.” This means that John-Michael Liles will likely be given yet another game to climb his way out of Coach Sacco’s bottomless doghouse. It appears to many that Liles is out of touch with his game as of late, so hopefully he manages to right the ship soon. There is a lot of speculation on trades involving the d-man.
courtesy of blackhawks.nhl.com
Outstanding Forward Anyone?
Speaking of trades, Adrian Dater has a blog up discussing trade rumors involving the Chicago Blackhawks’ stellar young forward Kris Versteeg. Anybody anywhere near me during the UFA signings this summer knows I was practically begging for Versteeg to be signed her. With 53 points in 78 games last year and 24 points in 39 games this year, I think he would find a cozy spot on the team, boosting the already stellar offensive production. It will be interesting to see who or what gets moved, but I’m a fan.
Mid-Season Grades
Two different sites have post grades for the Colorado Avalanche thus far in the season. While the Bleacer Report gives each player a ranking and a brief, Mile High Hockey has only listed both goaltenders. I believe MHH has a great argument, and while I feel Peter Budaj deserves a higher ranking, they have perfect justification for their position. Now the Bleacher Report I’m usually at odds with. I found myself shocked to agree with most of what they’ve said except for Liles and Darcy Tucker. I believe both are being unfairly graded down. These grades should be based on a combination of previous statistics and expectations based on these. I feel that Tucker has played up and that Liles is on par to have a similar season to his previous two. Tucker is 3 points away from his total last year (16 points) and Liles has 4 points in his last five games and is a +1.
What do you think of the Avs at mid-season? Who would you pass? Fail? What about Kris Versteeg? If you could pick up anyone right know, who would it be? Who would you trade for that dream choice?
Related posts:
- Duchene vs. Tavares
- Liles Benched, Anderson In Net
- Liles On The Block?
- Anderson Named NHL’s 2nd Star
- Offseason Analysis: Defense
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