Matt Duchene, who took less money to remain with the Avalanche, by the way, is clearly not a team player, not like that consummate professional Ryan O’Reilly, who sat out an entire season over money and then was traded to Buffalo for a horrible return. Yesterday, following the Avalanche 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues, Patrick Roy (another consummate professional who has never showboated in his life), called out Matt Duchene for his horribly over-the-top celebration: he lifted his arms and dared to smile for a brief second. See all the damning evidence!
https://www.nhl.com/video/duchenes-30th-goal/t-279766636/c-43222603
Predictably, this caused a firestorm of rage amongst hockey fans. A 13-page thread (as of right now) sprung up on HFBoards. Here’s some choice quotes from various HFBoards users:
“Duchene’s first reaction celly kinda speaks volumes about where his head is in and before that moment.”
hirawl (http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116327731&postcount=57)
I can kind of see where hirawl is coming from here. After all, no team has ever come back from a 4-1 deficit to win a game.
“Duchene was obviously dwelling on one thing–getting 30. That’s not a guy I want as my teammate. What a selfish mindset and action.”
State of Hockey (http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116328591&postcount=99)
After he was called out on his lack of ability to read Duchene’s mind, he doubles down:
“The problem is where his mind is–personal goals instead of the team. No wonder Colorado has problems top to bottom.”
State of Hockey (http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116328763&postcount=105)
“Celebrating a 30th goal like that in a game that put the nail in the coffin was wrong. Duchene shouldn’t be happy, your team just blew it, you should be upset, and embarrassed that your team has collapsed upon itself during the final two weeks of the season.”
ORLY (http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116329129&postcount=121)
I feel like the user name really speaks for itself here.
“I totally agree with Roy – it’s a loser mentality.”
sutekii (http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116331401&postcount=147)
I totally agree here. Scoring goals is quite a loser mentality. After all, no team has ever come back from a 4-1 deficit to win a game. If the Boston Bruins were real winners, they just would have given up and cried in the corner.
“Plays for the name on his back rather than the logo on the front… you’ll never win a cup with players like this.”
Gary Bettman Fan (http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116331925&postcount=150)
I totally agree here, as well. No hockey team has ever won the Stanley Cup while scoring goals.
The thread goes sane for a bit, but then the real insanity starts showing up.
“I agree that Duchene needs to put a little more stock into winning then personal milestones,”
HockeyGuruPitka (http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116336363&postcount=212)
That’s right! You tell him. Scoring goals has never contributed to winning hockey games, ever.
“Duchene should know better.”
KPower (http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116336667&postcount=216)
…than to score a meaningless goal. After all, no team has ever come back from a 4-1 deficit to win a game.
“Down 4-0 and reacting like you got the OT winner is not a good look.”
Hennessy (http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116336903&postcount=221)
I can only assume that Hennessy has never actually seen a team score an OT winner.
“He’s jumping around like that was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup in overtime.”
Stone Marks Another
(http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116337539&postcount=226)
I shouldn’t be too hard on him. As a Sens fan, he probably won’t ever have the joy of experiencing a Stanley Cup championship.
“Why showboat and be selfish?”
ScaredStreit
(http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116343851&postcount=260)
“I’m to the point where I hope Duchene scores a big goal in the next game and skates over to the bench with his arms at his side, no expression on his face, and just sits on the end of the bench. It’d be a good **** you to Roy.”
chet1926
(http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116344655&postcount=271)
I would be down with this. Unfortunately, Blueton disagrees.
“Hey if he did that maybe it would have sent a message to the team that he doesn’t care what personal accomplishment he just got, the object is to win and they weren’t doing that.”
Blueton
(http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116345319&postcount=279)
“Jesus, it is not worth of Stanley Cup winning celebration…
I call it a disrespect to everybody. If I was at that game, I would not pay for a ticket to see Duchene hit the 30th mark. I would pay for to see team’s win and effort. I bet Landeskog and other players weren’t on the ice to support Duchene’s own effort to reach the mark. I can’t imagine what Landy and his teammates was thinking about when they saw Duchene going crazy.”
Eurolanche, HFB Partner
(http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116330773&postcount=1)
Based on the final score, Landeskog and other players weren’t on the ice to do much of anything.
“It’s obviously stupid to base Duchene’s character and ability to be a team player on one moment though”
MattyMo35
(http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116332755&postcount=30)
The voice of reason.
“The only thing Duchene cares about is his personal achievements, you would never see Toews celebrate a goal like that when his team just got practically eliminated from the playoffs.”
albator71
(http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=116336355&postcount=78)
Another difference between the two is that Toews is rarely in a position to be practically eliminated from the playoffs.
So, hockey fans, what say you? How many lashes should Duchene receive for his over-the-top classless celebration?
Steve's Space 