With the overall season reviews done for the Avalanche, welcome to the Hockeybuzz player-by-player review of the Colorado Avalanche.
Over the next 29 days, we'll take an introspective look at all the players who played at least ten games with the Avs in numerical order continuing with Calder trophy nominee Matt Duchene (or as Alan Roach would say Matt Duuu-Chene!)
Regular season stats: 81 games played, 24 goals, 31 assists, 55 points (leader in rookie scoring).
Playoff stats: 6 games played, zero goals, three assists.
Contract status: Going into second year of rookie contract with a $3.4 million cap hit.
Nickname: Dutchie, Dutch
The first year for Matt Duchene was odd for him. His first 27 games, he got only 12 points and only four of them were goals.
The hate parade was out on Matt Duchene with forums calling him a "bust." However, once Duchene got used to the speed of the game and allowed his hands to catch up to his feet, he started producing and producing often. In the last 55 games, he got 43 points, 20 of them goals.
Duchene has great speed, does really well at protecting the puck and is a great passer. However, when things get tough for him, he tends to try to do too much by himself, forgetting that he has teammates.
There was a little bit of a relapse to the game he played in the first part of the year while the playoffs were happening but the loss of his favorite wingers in Milan Hejduk and Peter Mueller are contributory to that.
Duchene should be paired with Steven Stamkos in Germany for this year's World Championships. He should use that opportunity to learn about what Stamkos did to improve his game the next year.
Duchene and Stamkos had very similar rookie years and in his sophomore year, Stamkos lit up, tying Sydney Crosby for the Rocket Richard trophy to the player who scores more goals.
If Duchene can get a little stronger, maybe add a little more size to his frame, he could be very very lethal and could supplant Paul Stastny as first line center. He'll need to keep up his hard work but should he do that, he'll be a real star in this league.
However, it should be noted that off the ice, Duchene is a nice, affable, amiable young man. He'll stop and sign for autographs, does a lot of work with charities and acts in public in a calm respectful manner.
Highlight of the year
There are two goals that stand out in my memory from Duchene's year. One comes from a bad game vs. the Sharks early in the year, the other comes in a game in Tampa Bay where Duchene broke out.
In highlight number one, with the Avs down 2-0 to the Sharks and not putting up much of a fight, Duchene came down the ice, 1-on-2, shorthanded. Duchene puts a shot on net then slices between the San Jose defensemen and puts a shot by Nabokov to get the Avs back in the game. The Avs would ultimately lose but Duchene's goal was a highlight to a lowlight game.
The second highlight came in Duchene's breakout game vs. Stamkos' own Tampa Bay Lightning. On the powerplay, Duchene came down the off wing, put a shot on net and while being checked from behind, batted the puck out of mid air to score a goal.
Then of course, there's this one, I shouldn't need to tell you what this goal meant:
2010-11 outlook
If the sky's the limit, Matt Duchene will walk on the moon. He has the skills, the work ethic and the determination to be a dominant player in this league. Next year, it would be reasonable for Duchene to get at least 30 goals and 70 points what with his experience this year and his offseason conditioning program. He should bring a full load to bear on teams next year.
Colorado Avalanche Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»