Duchene Still Leads All NHL Rookies
by Joe Dunman on Jan 26, 2010 8:38 AM MST
in News
64 comments
When Matt Duchene was drafted third overall by the Colorado Avalanche this past summer, it was assumed by most that he'd make a big impact on the team almost immediately. After all, he was considered a top tier talent. He would be joining a depleted team of rookies and career under-performers, damaged by the departure of big name stars and numerous, nagging injuries.
But Duchene got off to a slow start, and was temporarily overshadowed by a fellow 18 year-old rookie center, Ryan O'Reilly. After 21 games, "Dutchie" had scored only seven points, and was far behind other rookies like the Islanders' John Tavares (1st overall, 2009) and the Flyers' James van Riemsdyk (2nd overall, 2007). They both had 19 points after 21 games.
The NHL learning curve isn't the same for everybody, even the most talented young players. Coach Joe Sacco kept playing Duchene, despite the rookie's struggle to get on the scoreboard, and it has since paid off. In his 22nd game (November 18), Duchene scored two points, lifting his total to nine. He scored ten points in the next ten games. Between December 15 and 31, Duchene scored eight points in seven games. More recently, he has seven points in his last six.
Duchene has since caught and passed the other rookies in the NHL. Below are the scoring trends of the top five NHL rookie scorers (Duchene, Tavares, van Riemsdyk, Tyler Myers, and Nicklas Bergfors), visualized:
While other rookies have stalled in their scoring, perhaps under the weight of a long season and their unfamiliarity with the physical rigors of the NHL, Duchene has steadily improved. Since his 22nd game, he's been on a very steady point-scoring pace.
Duchene has proven to be an invaluable asset to the Avalanche, just as predicted. It just took a little patience on the part of the coaching staff, the fans, and Duchene himself. Well worth the wait.
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I heard McNabb talking on the Preds broadcast I believe…about Kono, who told everyone to watch out for Duchene in the 2nd half, because he is going to get better as the year goes on. This seems to be the case.
If this is a re-build...we should do it every year.
Hopefully this trend continues and by next year he’s leading all skaters in points.
Mile High Hockey: Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, hating the Wings.
Wasn’t this his trend in juniors too? I think I read that his second halves are always stronger than the first chunk of the season.
The Avalanche, clearly, are down with No PP.
He’s comment himself on this a couple of times.
The 2009-2010 Colorado Avalanche: Much more gooderer than last year.
by NurseBeachie on Jan 26, 2010 9:09 AM MST up reply actions
Duchene is such a joy to watch
He’s a really valuable player hockey-wise and I’m thrilled to see him putting up points and leading the rookie scoring pace…but I still love that excitement over what he’s going to do next (like that between the legs thing against dallas — if he buries that, goal of the year). Haven’t had that in an Avs player since Forsberg, imo.
I agree 100%
I remember watching video of him from Brampton and training camp and then seeing him play in Vegas at Frozen Fury, and I thought from the beginning that he was more like Foppa than Sakic. Everyone kept saying how he was going to fill some of that void Joe left, but it seemed to me that Stastny was going to fill that quiet, dependable roll and Duchene was going to be the exciting playmaker. The more I watch the two of them, the more convinced I am this is how it will play out. Are they Sakic and Forsberg? Of course not. But they are going to give the Avs those two styles of players for years to come, and that will bring the franchise a lot of success.
The 2009-2010 Colorado Avalanche: Much more gooderer than last year.
by NurseBeachie on Jan 26, 2010 10:20 AM MST up reply actions
If Duchene were stock
I would invest in him and become a rich woman.
Colorado Avalanche: Please excuse the mess while we are under construction.
If Duchene was a planet
He’d be the sun, cause he’s the king of the planets!
The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind - Humphrey Bogart
Coach Joe Sacco kept playing Duchene, despite the rookie’s struggle to get on the scoreboard
It wasn’t a disputed decision to play Duchene. Anybody watching the games could see he always had the skillset but the pucks just weren’t going in. He was never a liability on D or in the offensive zone.
I think not playing Duchene would’ve received a lot more criticism.
His skills were SO good that he could hit the posts with pinpoint accuracy. (My goodness did I feel sorry for him). He could also have sure goals called back by the “war room”, just because they looked so nice
It’s only when he learned that wasn’t a good skill to have, that he started to turn it around
2009-10 Colorado Avalanche: The wheels are firmly secure thank you!
Advice to Red Wing Fans: If you don't want the reputation of being whiners, then stop whining about EVERYTHING. Your team is allowed to lose games, and when they do, it's not always because of the refs or Gary Bettman, and you seem to continuously claim
lol
The 2009-2010 Colorado Avalanche: Much more gooderer than last year.
by NurseBeachie on Jan 26, 2010 10:51 AM MST up reply actions
Can't one-up
NHL’s next poster boy.
2009-2010 Avs: Definitely have fallen back to the pack, all the back to 1st in the NW. Life is good.
IDK, if the Avs live up to their promise and continue to rock the league with this kid-power and Duchene gets the Calder…he might be poster boy material. not that i want him to be bettman’s boy. I’d rather Tavares get the Pinocchio treatment.
The 2009-2010 Colorado Avalanche: Much more gooderer than last year.
by NurseBeachie on Jan 26, 2010 11:27 AM MST up reply actions
See, this explains Liles’ early struggles too. All those dings from Duchene hitting posts kept setting off #4’s Hot Pocket cravings.
by wickediz on Jan 26, 2010 6:15 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs
I concur
$
The 2009-2010 Colorado Avalanche: Much more gooderer than last year.
by NurseBeachie on Jan 26, 2010 7:21 PM MST up reply actions
You remember someone who posted once
Almost a full year ago?
2009-2010 Avs: Definitely have fallen back to the pack, all the back to 1st in the NW. Life is good.
It wasn’t a disputed decision to play Duchene.
It is in some places.
2009-2010 Avs: Definitely have fallen back to the pack, all the back to 1st in the NW. Life is good.
YEH!! HEZ DA SUXXORRZZ!!! TRD 4 PIXX!11!1111!!!!
2009-2010 Colorado Avalanche - On the upside, there's only 31 more (regular season) games of Darcy Tucker left!
SEND HIM TO JUNYERZ
Get rid of the loser point
ridding the world of booze: one drink at a time
09-10 Avs: Much more gooderer than last year.
If Duchene were a basketball player...
He’d be the star point guard he just has a nack for making everyone around him play better (unless their name is Tucker or Svatos)… he is so quiet and modest yet has such a large ora of like awesomeness lol
"What do the Detroit Red Wings and the Titanic have in common?
They both look good until they hit the ice!"
Visit> http://www.bronxbaseballdaily.com/
by SportsDalaiLama on Jan 26, 2010 10:24 AM MST reply actions
Hey, now Tucker did play better with Duchene, it just wasn’t good enough. There’s only so much a guy can do with the material has to work with. I wouldn’t hand you a pile of Bertuzzi and expect you to build me a nice mansion. You might be able to build the mansion part, but it would still smell like Bertuzzi.
Svatos, has he played this season?
The 2009-10 Avalanche: Have the wheels fallen off the bus yet?
I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.
by Americanario on Jan 26, 2010 1:46 PM MST up reply actions
Joe
I’m surprised you noticed we picked up Duchene this offseason.. Maybe you should edit your top-19 list!
Just out of curiousity…how much press time do the other rookies get? Duchene has quickly become such an eloquent interviewee. Has that happened with the other guys? I’m sure a lot of training has gone into that, but Dutchy is clearly a natural at it. That’s to the kid’s and the franchise’s advantage too.
The 2009-2010 Colorado Avalanche: Much more gooderer than last year.
Calder hopes?
van Reimsdyk seems to be getting a lot of talk for the Calder this year, but I’m hoping Duchene can make his second half even stronger than we’ve seen so far. As much as we all hate the stat, improving his plus/minus would help a lot with the voters.
Colorado Avalanche: Preventing itchy playoff beards since '09
by FiveJeffFingerDiscount on Jan 26, 2010 10:57 AM MST reply actions
Either...
Duchene or Myers in my opinion…Duchene will prob have to break away a bit in the scoring race vs Myers to beat him out since hes a D-Man
"What do the Detroit Red Wings and the Titanic have in common?
They both look good until they hit the ice!"
Visit> http://www.bronxbaseballdaily.com/
by SportsDalaiLama on Jan 26, 2010 10:57 AM MST up reply actions
Agreed. Myers is probably the front runner right now. But if he drops off a little and/or Duchene turns it on these last 30 something games….
If it’s close I hope that the selection committee takes into the fact, should the Avs make the playoffs, the distance they had to travel, and overall impact Duchene has had on that progress compared to Myers in Buffalo (missing the playoffs by 1pt last season).
The 2009-10 Avalanche: Have the wheels fallen off the bus yet?
I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.
by Americanario on Jan 26, 2010 1:51 PM MST up reply actions
Myers stands out more on Buffalo than Duchene does on Colorado. We have SoS, Wolski, Hejduk, and Stewart. He needs to put up 50-60 points. Myers is basically the anchor for Buffalo even though with Miller in net a team full of Ossi Vananenenenen’s would be amazing.
If Duchene averages a point per game here on out and really blow Tavares out of the water by 10 or more points, I think he can get it.
Avalanche 2009-2010: Ostensibly, the worst team in the league. Realistically, top of the NW division.
Unfortunately for Duchene, most of the Avs success has been attributed to Andy. Yes, he’s been a big part of it, but the rest of the team is not really getting their due credit.
The 2009-2010 Colorado Avalanche: Much more gooderer than last year.
by NurseBeachie on Jan 26, 2010 2:49 PM MST up reply actions
Myers also has one of the most consistent lines in Joe’s spiffy graph. Consistency baby!
I’m still rooting for Duchene to take home some hardware, I just hope it weighs 30 something pounds and sparkles.
Get rid of the loser point
ridding the world of booze: one drink at a time
09-10 Avs: Much more gooderer than last year.
Playoffs!
I really want to see what this kid can do in the playoffs. I keep hearing he’s really clutch in the playoffs and I hope it is true.
The way this whole team plays in clutch/challenge situations makes me hungry to see them in the playoffs. But yeah, Duchene especially.
The 2009-2010 Colorado Avalanche: Much more gooderer than last year.
by NurseBeachie on Jan 26, 2010 11:44 AM MST up reply actions
Dater linked this story
Maybe we should get Dater on here commenting. Oh wait…maybe he is on here already. Where’s that Theodore person?
Avalanche 2009-2010: Ostensibly, the worst team in the league. Realistically, top of the NW division.
Puck Daddy did too.
The 2009-2010 Colorado Avalanche: Much more gooderer than last year.
by NurseBeachie on Jan 26, 2010 1:19 PM MST up reply actions
I wish I made Dater’s salary.
I’m just more of a reader than a talker. MHH hockey knowledge > my hockey knowledge, and my sense of humor might get me in trouble on here. So I post rarely and read often… but I feel like I know all of you. Now that I say that… it’s kinda creepy…
honestly, I started reading the articles and game threads to learn what too look for during the games to learn how to be better at watching the team I love. If that makes any sense. Has it really helped? I don’t know, but most of you are pretty hilarious so I keep coming back.
Awwwww! Hugs!
The 2009-2010 Colorado Avalanche: Much more gooderer than last year.
by NurseBeachie on Jan 26, 2010 7:20 PM MST up reply actions
Your sense of humor would have to get you in jail by either the real cops or possibly some depts of the PC police to get you in trouble here. Even then a lot of it would probably be ok. Not that I know you or anything, it’s just that a lot of stuff goes around here.
Get rid of the loser point
ridding the world of booze: one drink at a time
09-10 Avs: Much more gooderer than last year.
Like that post about Wolski I made that was deleted?
I call it... The Avaslug!
Blown two goal leads... empty arena... David Koci's 1 minute of ice time...
The Avalanche Experience.
he is here. I saw him post once. His user name is very unique. As in “euqinu”
Get rid of the loser point
ridding the world of booze: one drink at a time
09-10 Avs: Much more gooderer than last year.
yep.
Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.
by David Driscoll-Carignan on Jan 27, 2010 5:29 AM MST up reply actions
Oooohhh, I found it! He has one comment, defending himself against charges of plagiarism by some MHH members (I’m looking at you Pookie!).
I like AD and think he does a great job, personally. At least we have one beat writer left that follows the team on the road.
All I want for Christmas is the Stanley Cup.
It’s also great that he has started giving out some props to this site and others. Twice now this week he has linked to this site, and/or borrowed from it (the rookie scoring piece and the Young Guns pic). I think that says something for the quality of those writing and posting here.
The 2009-10 Avalanche: Have the wheels fallen off the bus yet?
I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.
by Americanario on Jan 27, 2010 8:04 PM MST up reply actions
Exactly!
It’s kinda nice to see the fine writing staff here getting some recognition other than just from the fine commenters here. And This is the First place I come for hockey insight. AD does a good job but his blog/stories come second. But you guys make me laugh more.
"You mess with our Hejduk and the Spirit of Lappy is coming!"-Jibbles
MHH- The Haiku capital of AvsNation.
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