The "Panic about Matt Duchene" thread

[Heebs21*]

The excuses for Duchene need to stop. Using injuries to defend his brutal play is one thing....if it was true but the fact of the matter is that he would not be playing if he was hurt.

I can accept if Duchene doesn't put up points but do something. Anything. O'Reilly has gone a week without scoring but he still does all the little things to help us win. Duchene is a complete and total defensive liability. If Duchene doesn't score he is useless out there. Which is why he is on the 4th line getting 9 minutes a game.

As for his hot start...he had 24 points in 39 games (.61 PPG, averages out to 50 points in 82 games) Not bad but not stellar. Since coming back from his injury he has been totally useless. 1 goal and 2 assists in 16 games.

He has gone from a 67 point season in 80 games (.8 PPG) to a 27 point season in 55 games. (.49 PPG) It's actually quite alarming how quickly Duchene's play has droppped off. I love the kid. I want him to succeed but this season is very alarming.

 

[Goulet17]

The excuses for Duchene need to stop. Using injuries to defend his brutal play is one thing....if it was true but the fact of the matter is that he would not be playing if he was hurt.

I can accept if Duchene doesn't put up points but do something. Anything. O'Reilly has gone a week without scoring but he still does all the little things to help us win. Duchene is a complete and total defensive liability. If Duchene doesn't score he is useless out there. Which is why he is on the 4th line getting 9 minutes a game.

As for his hot start...he had 24 points in 39 games (.61 PPG, averages out to 50 points in 82 games) Not bad but not stellar. Since coming back from his injury he has been totally useless. 1 goal and 2 assists in 16 games.

He has gone from a 67 point season in 80 games (.8 PPG) to a 27 point season in 55 games. (.49 PPG) It's actually quite alarming how quickly Duchene's play has droppped off. I love the kid. I want him to succeed but this season is very alarming.

He led all Avs forwards in takeways and blocked shots tonight while receiving the third lowest TOI.

Can you accept that?

 

[5280]

Maybe he's just having a Sophomore slump his Junior year

 

[Heebs21*]

He led all Avs forwards in takeways and blocked shots tonight while receiving the third lowest TOI.

Can you accept that?

One good game out of the last 17...it's a start

 

[Goulet17]

One good game out of the last 17...it's a start

I would venture a guess that you were on board with the bash Stastny and EJ campaigns earlier this year.

We should start a pool on this board's next whipping boy.

 

[shadow1]

I would venture a guess that you were on board with the bash Stastny and EJ campaigns earlier this year.

We should start a pool on this board's next whipping boy.

He has no goals and one assist in his last 12 games. In his last 19 games he has one goal and two assists.

You can't write others off as being unreasonable for criticizing Duchene's play. He sucks ass right now.

 

[Heebs21*]

I would venture a guess that you were on board with the bash Stastny and EJ campaigns earlier this year.

We should start a pool on this board's next whipping boy.

Well sorry man, you would be wrong.

Care to guess at something else?

 

[ColoradoSportsFan]

We should start a pool on this board's next whipping boy.

If management does the sensable thing and keeps Stastny, he'll be the boards whipping boy by a pretty large margin.

I think the Stastny and Duchene bashing is funny quite frankly. I mean people around here are expecting them to be the next Sakic and Forsberg and they are pissed because they aren't.

 

[Mant*]

He has no goals and one assist in his last 12 games. In his last 19 games he has one goal and two assists.

You can't write others off as being unreasonable for criticizing Duchene's play. He sucks ass right now.

...and this slump came at the point when we needed him the most. That's why people are pissed.

 

[Pirate Deadpool]

I think people bash Stastny because he misses so many wide open shots. If he could just bury half of them he would be close to 40 goals. Most of the time in the GDT it's something like "omg how could he miss that, half of the net was wide open"!

 

[TheStranger]

I think people bash Stastny because he misses so many wide open shots. If he could just bury half of them he would be close to 40 goals. Most of the time in the GDT it's something like "omg how could he miss that, half of the net was wide open"!

I'm sure if every player hit half their clear cut missed opportunities they'd be great goal scorers too.

 

[iAvs]

If management does the sensable thing and keeps Stastny, he'll be the boards whipping boy by a pretty large margin.

I think the Stastny and Duchene bashing is funny quite frankly. I mean people around here are expecting them to be the next Sakic and Forsberg and they are pissed because they aren't.

Yup.

They are being measured by greatness & coming up short to those standards. Kind of like every goalie here is measured by Roy's standards, or every QB on the Broncos needs to live up to Elway. Same thing is happening to Staz & Dutchy.

IMO, these guys are here to stay. Dutchy will turn it up next season and Staz has been looking very good lately. Both of these guys are still very young, especially Duchene. His ceiling is higher than Staz's.

 

[Punished ROR]

I think people bash Stastny because he misses so many wide open shots. If he could just bury half of them he would be close to 40 goals. Most of the time in the GDT it's something like "omg how could he miss that, half of the net was wide open"!

Or he passes up the shoot completely and tries to give it to someone else to bury (and fails). I'm not a Stastny basher, but I do wish the kid played with more of a killer instinct.

To be fair, he's not the only one missing open nets this year. Hejduk and Duchene also had terrible years for finishing great chances. Of course, they've also gotten their fair share of criticism this year from fans, too.

We need more natural goal-scoring talent. Too many playmakers/grinders/energy guys in the top 9 and not enough players that can actually put the puck in the net.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

The excuses for Duchene need to stop. Using injuries to defend his brutal play is one thing....if it was true but the fact of the matter is that he would not be playing if he was hurt.

I can accept if Duchene doesn't put up points but do something. Anything. O'Reilly has gone a week without scoring but he still does all the little things to help us win. Duchene is a complete and total defensive liability. If Duchene doesn't score he is useless out there. Which is why he is on the 4th line getting 9 minutes a game.

As for his hot start...he had 24 points in 39 games (.61 PPG, averages out to 50 points in 82 games) Not bad but not stellar. Since coming back from his injury he has been totally useless. 1 goal and 2 assists in 16 games.

He has gone from a 67 point season in 80 games (.8 PPG) to a 27 point season in 55 games. (.49 PPG) It's actually quite alarming how quickly Duchene's play has droppped off. I love the kid. I want him to succeed but this season is very alarming.

He is playing hurt. Why is that hard to believe?

Rather than bash Duchene anymore (when he was fine last night) and claim he's a defensive liability (not a liability, seeing as he actually tries and puts effort in down low on defense), why not just wait to judge him next season?

This one is almost over, he needs a full summer to rest and train.

Patience, it's something this fanbase has never had.

 

[Adama0905]

He has no goals and one assist in his last 12 games. In his last 19 games he has one goal and two assists.

You can't write others off as being unreasonable for criticizing Duchene's play. He sucks ass right now.

I think the main point is "and?"

I stopped judging him after he got injured. Wrote this season up as a mulligan for him about twenty games in or so. It's been obvious for a while that for this season at least, he wasn't going to be one of our stars or guys that we count on to lead us to the wins.

And if he was 26 or so and that was the case, that'd be a huge problem for me, especially with his 67 point season and his 3rd overall status. But he's 21. So I could care less. Believe me, he puts in another two or three seasons like this one I'll be on board with all the Duchene hate (and even then it's probably too soon, but meh). But until then I'm gonna sit back and wait for him to be a star. Because I still believe he will be.

 

[SuperJoe]

He has no goals and one assist in his last 12 games. In his last 19 games he has one goal and two assists.

You can't write others off as being unreasonable for criticizing Duchene's play. He sucks ass right now.

What is Sherman suppose to do with his next contract, he has 27 points this year that's 6 more than fricking Wilson in the same amounts of game for crying out loud. He's coming off a fat entry level contract, he's one of the core youngster going forward. Tough position indeed, no way he's getting a Tavares type contract. My guess two years 7/7.5 mill. I think he didn't focus enough on training and getting better last off season cause things were easy for him with his natural abilities, he needs to put the fishing rod down and work his ass off.

 

[rpontbriand]

I think people bash Stastny because he misses so many wide open shots. If he could just bury half of them he would be close to 40 goals. Most of the time in the GDT it's something like "omg how could he miss that, half of the net was wide open"!

You ever see the pattern on his stick? I am amazed he can do anything with it. I have known a few guys that have tried it and they can't do squat with it. Granted he has far more talent but I have to believe it has something to do with it.

 

[Freudian]

This season is a write-off when it comes to Duchene. I think he has shown better effort lately even if he hasn't gotten on the score sheet. For a premier offensive talent, that's a small comfort but I'll take small encouraging signs at this stage.

With this season in mind, I would start worrying if he doesn't come into camp in the best shape of his life. The "I'm a slow starter" excuse won't fly next year.

 

[cgf]

I think the main point is "and?"

I stopped judging him after he got injured. Wrote this season up as a mulligan for him about twenty games in or so. It's been obvious for a while that for this season at least, he wasn't going to be one of our stars or guys that we count on to lead us to the wins.

And if he was 26 or so and that was the case, that'd be a huge problem for me, especially with his 67 point season and his 3rd overall status. But he's 21. So I could care less. Believe me, he puts in another two or three seasons like this one I'll be on board with all the Duchene hate (and even then it's probably too soon, but meh). But until then I'm gonna sit back and wait for him to be a star. Because I still believe he will be.

Thank you for having some sense and patience.

 

[rpontbriand]

The excuses for Duchene need to stop. Using injuries to defend his brutal play is one thing....if it was true but the fact of the matter is that he would not be playing if he was hurt.

I can accept if Duchene doesn't put up points but do something. Anything. O'Reilly has gone a week without scoring but he still does all the little things to help us win. Duchene is a complete and total defensive liability. If Duchene doesn't score he is useless out there. Which is why he is on the 4th line getting 9 minutes a game.

As for his hot start...he had 24 points in 39 games (.61 PPG, averages out to 50 points in 82 games) Not bad but not stellar. Since coming back from his injury he has been totally useless. 1 goal and 2 assists in 16 games.

He has gone from a 67 point season in 80 games (.8 PPG) to a 27 point season in 55 games. (.49 PPG) It's actually quite alarming how quickly Duchene's play has droppped off. I love the kid. I want him to succeed but this season is very alarming.

Really? This is hockey not baseball. Hockey players players hurt all the time. Thats what they do.

 

[AvsWraith]

I'm sure if every player hit half their clear cut missed opportunities they'd be great goal scorers too.

Yeah, but Staz's are really bad. Point blank changes that even Scott Hannan could put in. Basically, if it isn't a tip, or he doesn't get off a good backhander, Staz is not going to score on most of his chances.

 

[Adama0905]

The excuses for Duchene need to stop. Using injuries to defend his brutal play is one thing....if it was true but the fact of the matter is that he would not be playing if he was hurt.

I can accept if Duchene doesn't put up points but do something. Anything. O'Reilly has gone a week without scoring but he still does all the little things to help us win. Duchene is a complete and total defensive liability. If Duchene doesn't score he is useless out there. Which is why he is on the 4th line getting 9 minutes a game.

As for his hot start...he had 24 points in 39 games (.61 PPG, averages out to 50 points in 82 games) Not bad but not stellar. Since coming back from his injury he has been totally useless. 1 goal and 2 assists in 16 games.

He has gone from a 67 point season in 80 games (.8 PPG) to a 27 point season in 55 games. (.49 PPG) It's actually quite alarming how quickly Duchene's play has droppped off. I love the kid. I want him to succeed but this season is very alarming.

Eek, didn't notice this before. Just pure stupidity right here. 1) People need to quit assuming they know each and every detail of all players' lives and 2) it happens SO often where the season will end and some massively awful injury is revealed that a hockey player was playing through, to the point where assuming anyone is playing at this point completely healthy is much more ignorant than assuming anyone is playing at this point injured.

 

[NothingLikeAnEJ]

Dater already said that Duchene, EJ and Downie are playing through ankle, back and shoulder injuries respectively.

http://www.denverpost.com/avsmailba...ill-fighting-playoffs-colorado-plans-attitude

"Downie, by the way, has been playing hurt for about three weeks with a shoulder injury. He might have a slight separation in fact. And Duchene has also been playing hurt. His ankle/knee are not 100 percent."

 

[Freudian]

Dater already said that Duchene, EJ and Downie are playing through ankle, back and shoulder injuries respectively.

http://www.denverpost.com/avsmailba...ill-fighting-playoffs-colorado-plans-attitude

"Downie, by the way, has been playing hurt for about three weeks with a shoulder injury. He might have a slight separation in fact. And Duchene has also been playing hurt. His ankle/knee are not 100 percent."

All of this have been observable lately.

I do feel it is a bit of red herring to focus on Duchene's injury though. I don't think that has been the main problem this year. Him not being able to figure out how to create offense even when healthy is.

 

[Adama0905]

All of this have been observable lately.

I do feel it is a bit of red herring to focus on Duchene's injury though. I don't think that has been the main problem this year. Him not being able to figure out how to create offense even when healthy is.

Well, obviously. Personally I only attribute about 10% or so of his problems this year to injury. It's all mental for him, but of course, when it rains it pours.