DUCHENE TRIES TO CATCH HIS BREATH FOLLOWING TRADE
The wild whirlwind — or maybe that should be worldwind, given the Senators flew out to Sweden late Monday night — has left Matt Duchene a tad out of sorts.
“It’s a good weird, a really good weird,” the newest member of the Ottawa Senators said following his first practice with the team, when he skated on a line with Zack Smith and Mike Hoffman.
“It’s crazy. It almost feels like I’m starting out at training camp right now. It’s almost like my first few games didn’t happen. It’s a weird feeling for sure, but it feels fresh. It feels good.”
Ever since he asked for a trade out of Colorado last season, the Senators were among one of his choice destinations. His mother and uncle have roots in Cornwall and he has several good friends in Ottawa.
Yet his final moments with the Avalanche were bizarre, to say the least. He was on the bench, only a few minutes into Sunday’s game against the New York Islanders, when the trade was finally completed.
“It was crazy,” he said. “I had an idea before the game that (the trade) might happen. I was kind of laughing with my agent and parents and wife, and I thought it was going to happen during the first period.
“Funny enough, two shifts in, I saw the trainer get the call down. I knew right away that’s what it was and I saw the coaches give me the head nod.”
Duchene tried to make a discreet departure, but a camera was immediately in his face.
From there, he made a rapid departure out of Brooklyn, catching a commercial flight to Ottawa late Sunday.
Then came the morning news conference and practice with his new teammates.
“Everything about it, I feel like I’m kind of in a dream world right now, in terms of having been somewhere for more than eight years and being somewhere different now,” he said.
There is some familiarity with his surroundings.
Duchene spent a week in the Senators dressing room before the 2016-17 season, when Canadian Tire Centre served as the site of training camp for Canada’s World Cup team. He played alongside Derick Brassard, Mark Stone and Cody Ceci on Canada’s world championship team in 2016 and early in his career, Craig Anderson was his goaltender in Colorado.
Senators coach Guy Boucher also served as the coach on the gold-medal under-18 squad that featured Duchene.
Duchene recognizes that it might take him some time to fully understand the nuances of the Senators structure.
Boucher also understands that there is an adjustment process for anyone traded to a new team and a new style.
“It takes a long time, let’s not kid ourselves,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how good the player is. It takes a while. We can’t expect him to come in and figure it out in one or two days or even a week.”
Duchene did have some early success with the Senators. He scored the winning goal during a spirited three-on-three scrimmage that ended Monday’s practice.
And then it was off to another post-practice interview session before preparing to join his new team for the long flight to Sweden.
At least he was already packed for that trip. If he hadn’t been traded to the Senators Sunday, he would have flown out of New York directly to Stockholm with the Avalanche — to play the Senators.
“I figured one way or another, I would be in Sweden,” he said.
Welcome to the worldwind of his new life.