It’s been a difficult season for Dallas Stars forward Matt Duchene after he missed a significant portion of the season with a serious concussion.
Duchene’s results have been up-and-down since returning from the injury on Dec. 7, but he’s currently on a heater. He’s in the midst of a five-game point streak, totaling five goals and two assists during that span, including a two-goal outing against the Blues on Jan. 27.
Duchene joined The Sweet Spot on Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 The Ticket (KTCK-AM) and opened up on the difficulties, both physical and mental, that he endured during his return from the concussion, his recent uptick in play and offered some advice to his Olympics-bound teammates.
You’re on a five-game point streak, the team’s on a five-game winning streak. When you feel like you’re playing with confidence in your scoring, do you feel like that brings up your game?
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Matt Duchene: Oh yeah, for sure. But I think your game has to start somewhere before the results follow. I’ve never been one of those guys that plays a bad game and then ends up with a goal and assist at the end of the night. There are those guys out there that can that have that knack. I’m not one of them. I wish I was, trust me, but, yeah, I think for me, it starts with playing well. And I think, probably the first 20 games I was back, there was a lot of inconsistency with where I was in the lineup, how many minutes and then my game as well, within that, just trying to figure out, it felt like I got traded to a new team, because I was still getting used to the new systems. Obviously when a team has 40-plus games of history together, and then I get put into the mix, it takes a minute to find your spot. I think the last probably 10 games it’s kind of come together for me. I still think there’s times where things are different each night but I think that’ll continue to settle in. I think I had some really good games right off the bat when I got back and the puck didn’t go in. Eventually it does, if you stick with it. That’s one thing I’ve learned throughout my career. I’ve been through a million slumps, and I’ve been through a million hot streaks at this point. One usually follows the other. The big thing that you try and make the peaks as long as possible in the valleys as short as possible.
What’s going on defensively in third periods that’s allowing these teams to come back and tie it up? Is it just you guys still learning a defensive system or what’s the issue?
Duchene: No, it’s nothing doing with any of that. The St. Louis game, we didn’t play well in the third and they came back. The Vegas game, we gave up seven shots in the third period. One was a shorthanded goal. I’m trying to remember the other one, but kind of a fluky one where they score right at the end where three or four things happen that were kind of ridiculous bad luck for us, and ends up in the net. The other thing is too, when another team presses, it’s tough to hold them off. And the biggest thing I think we’ve learned through this is you can’t go into prevent defense mode. I don’t think you can in any sport, to be honest. I mean, how many times do we watch a football team sit back and let a team get into field goal range and just kick a field goal like it’s crazy how much that happens. So I think it’s human nature to go into that. And when a team is pressing and they’re taking more risks than usual, and you’re taking less risks. So a lot of the time, who’s going to be the team that ends up coming up with that big play? Well, it’s a team that’s on their toes, right? So it happens every single night in hockey. I mean, St. Louis lost 6-5 last night after being up 5-1 to a team that’s not high in the standings in Nashville, so I think it’s a mentality thing. It’s staying on your toes, it’s pushing forward, and you can’t sit back and just defend all game. The league’s too good. There’s too many good players, and you just keep taking on water like that, the other team just feels better and better and better and gets in a flow. It’s a game of momentum, and it’s a game of pushes and I think we, over those games where teams might have scored a couple on us, we did have some better play throughout. I mean, you give up seven shots in Vegas and give up three goals, that’s not really an indictment of your game. I think it’s just a situational thing.
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Are you back to feeling 100% with your legs back under you since your return from the concussion?
Duchene: I would say, it took me three games to really feel physically comfortable where I wasn’t skittish at all. I mean, the first game, first period, I was scared to death to get hit again, because you go through something that traumatic, I think it’s human nature, and then that goes away, and then you start realizing how much time and space you have, and then on and on and on. I would say the confidence and my rhythm and feel with the puck was something that kind of was up and down. I’d have games where I was like, “Okay, I’m me tonight,” and then I’d have games where I’m like, “Man, I haven’t had a sniff of anything good here in a while.” Sometimes it’s a product of the game, and a product of if your line’s going or not, and a product of, if there’s a bunch of penalties, and you’re sitting there watching the penalty kill the whole time. There’s a whole bunch of different variables. When you’re trying to catch a catch up to a moving train that can really hamper that. I think right now my confidence is kind of where it’s been when I’ve been at the top of my game the last couple years. It feels good. I think for me, it’s a shorter season because I missed over a quarter of it. All I’m thinking about is getting to where I want to be come playoff time. I mean, it’s kind of a foregone conclusion we’re going to play Minnesota. We’re either going to have home ice or not, and then if we win that series, we’re going to Colorado. Everybody knows it. It’s pretty plain right now. You never want to look far ahead. You want to be kind of where your feet are. But at the same time, you know what the challenge is coming up, and you want to be ready for that. And for me, I had a lot of big goals coming into the season. I wanted to make that Olympic team and I knew I was kind of in the mix for that, and then you get hurt, and you have no chance of that anymore, and you got to kind of grieve that, because it’s probably my last chance. It will be my last chance, the next time it comes around, I’ll be 39 years old, right? And barring something crazy, I don’t remember the last time a player that age made that team, especially with all the young talent the league. Watching 25 games is horrible. I mean, it felt like I missed 105 games. It’s brutal. Like showing up to the rink at home at 7 o’clock for a game in your street clothes and you got a workout going on that night, and your eyes are messed up and everything. I mean, it was tough. It was a tough stretch. And I’m just really excited to be, even when the pucks weren’t bouncing and we were losing games, I was still much happier dealing with that kind of stress than I was dealing with what I had going on before.
With so many of your teammates off to the Olympics, how are you going to take things in? Are you going to cheer for your country or do you cheer for your teammates along the way?
Duchene: I haven’t given it too much thought, to be honest. Obviously, I’m Canadian first, and you always want to see Canada stand on top of the hockey world. We’ve basically been there for the last three best-on-best tournaments, and I’d love to see that again. But at the same time, I hope all my teammates do well. If the US wins, or Finland wins, I’ll be so happy for those guys, or Czech or obviously Canada with [Thomas Harley]. You know, what? Here’s the other thing too, that I hope guys realize: First, second or third, you come away with an Olympic medal, that’s special. I know everyone wants to win, and you don’t win silver, you lose gold, as they say. But at the same time, if one of the fellas ends up bringing home a silver medal, or a few of them, or bronze is pretty special. And the Olympics is, for me, probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, unfortunately, because we didn’t go for 12 years. But at the same time, I’m so grateful I got to go. And it’s probably the greatest accomplishment of my my life is just making that team and getting to go to that Olympics, and I’m hoping I trump that with a Stanley Cup in the next few years. But until then it’s a special thing, and I just hope all those guys enjoy it.
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