The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.
Subscribe now to view the full THN Archives here.
Also, go to thn.com/free to subscribe.
Will He Stay Or Will He Go? - May. 27, 2019 – Vol. 72, Issue 15 - Ken Campbell
HE NEXT TIME AN NHL player wonders whether he has an impact on people, he should consider the case of Mason Krieger, a six-year-old from Cleveland, Ohio, who has been in speech therapy most of his life but speaks in cogent and complete sentences when he talks about the Columbus Blue Jackets. The day after Matt Duchene scored in double overtime in Game 2 of the Blue Jackets’ second-round series against the Boston Bruins, Mason and his father, Marty, went to a local rink to do a video recreation of the goal, right down to the part where Duchene slid across the ice on his knees in celebration.
Marty Krieger, a real-estate agent in Cleveland, put the video out on Twitter, and Duchene retweeted it. In the days following, it got more than 18,000 likes on Duchene’s social-media account. If you give the video the Zapruder treatment, you’ll find it’s not an exact replication, but it’s almost impossible to capture that kind of emotion twice. “You saw my reaction,” Duchene said. “I just didn’t know what to do. You lose all feeling in your body.”
Duchene became Mason’s favorite player the moment Duchene was dealt to the Blue Jackets at the trade deadline and chose No. 95. Mason is a big fan of Lightning McQueen, who wears No. 95 in the Cars movie franchise, so when Duchene kept his number from the Ottawa Senators, Mason switched his allegiance from Josh Anderson to Duchene. It’s hard to know how much a kid in kindergarten grasps the concept of a salary cap or unrestricted free agency or rental players, but Mason knows Duchene’s stay in Columbus might be short. He remains undaunted, though. “I want him to be on the team forever,” Mason said.
This spring was the first time both Duchene and the Columbus franchise have ever seen the second round of the playoffs, and in that sense he’s not unlike a lot of Blue Jacket players. Of those who were regulars in the post-season, only Brandon Dubinsky, Riley Nash, Ryan Dzingel and Sergei Bobrovsky had ever been beyond the first round. This was uncharted territory for almost everybody, but not as uncharted as it will be this summer when Duchene faces the decision of whether to stay with the Jackets.
Mason wants his favorite player in Columbus forever, and the Senators wouldn’t mind, either, because that would mean they’d get the Blue Jackets’ first-round picks in 2019 and 2020 as part of the terms of the trade. As for Duchene, he doesn’t know what the future holds, but during the playoffs he felt like Columbus was home. “I feel like I’ve played on this team my whole career,” Duchene said. “I feel like I know these guys so well. I find guys are so like-minded and even-keeled and even-tempered. Everyone gets along so well, and it’s fun to spend this time together. It brings you together for sure.”
I FEEL LIKE I’VE PLAYED ON THIS TEAM MY WHOLE CAREER. I FEEL LIKE I KNOW THESE GUYS SO WELL– MATT DUCHENE
On This Date In 2016: Jared Bednar Is Hired By Colorado
On this date in 2016, the <a href="http://thn.com/colorado">Colorado Avalanche</a> hired Jared Bednar away from the Columbus Blue Jackets organization.
Is that enough for Duchene to stay in Columbus long term? Well, the Blue Jackets want him to stay, and they’ll be swimming in cap room. But here’s the thing. Duchene has finally gotten a taste of success after 10 years in the league. Some of them were really long ones. And, like Ryan O’Reilly before this spring, losing seemed to follow Duchene around.
Consider that, after finishing last with the Colorado Avalanche in 2016-17, he joined the Senators just months after they came within one overtime goal of going to the Stanley Cup final that spring, then played through parts of two seasons during one of the most dysfunctional periods in franchise history. But it was that less-than-linear path that brought Duchene to the situation he’s in now. “It’s just bad luck. You can’t think of it any differently,” Duchene said of his previous tenures with the Avalanche and Senators. “Wrong place, wrong time. It’s not like you’re on the verge of making the playoffs and you make a blunder and don’t make it. Some years we were out of it by Christmas. But I feel everything I’ve been through in the past has helped me prepare for this.”
There are a number of factors to unpack here, and much of it surrounds Artemi Panarin and Bobrovsky. They’re all but gone, which will leave the Blue Jackets plenty of cap space to give Duchene whatever he wants. But it will also diminish their team, which might make Duchene wonder whether he wants to go through another rebuild. If the mandate is to go to a winning situation, Duchene is in kind of a netherworld in Columbus. Who knows how good or bad the Blue Jackets will be without Panarin and Bobrovsky in their lineup in 2019-20 and beyond? And if Duchene signing costs Columbus two first-round picks instead of one, that will mean one fewer elite prospect in the system.
After Duchene scored the second consecutive game-winner for the Blue Jackets in Game 3, coach John Tortorella called him “a good marriage for us as far as the deadline.” Tortorella knew little about Duchene before coaching him. He wondered whether Duchene could defend and how coachable he would be because he sees and hears things. “Since I have coached him, the thing I truly respect about him is he is a hockey player,” Tortorella said. “He likes talking hockey. He’s always involved with the video, looking for extra video. He’s made some big plays at key times for us and a guy who’s fairly inexperienced in the playoffs.”
Back in January when he was still with the Senators, Duchene and his wife, Ashley, had their first child, a son they christened Beau David Newell. (The third name is in deference to Duchene’s uncle, Newell Brown, an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks.) Two days before Beau was born, Duchene picked up a copy of the book The Hockey Sweater. Duchene used to listen to his grandfather Emile talk about Maurice Richard and grew to idolize The Rocket, which was one reason Duchene wore No. 9 until he was traded to the Senators. “I wanted him to grow up with it like I did – it’s a special book,” Duchene said. “I wrote him a note inside of it about how No. 9 has followed us around, and he was born on the ninth of January. It’s something that’s pretty special to our family.”
It’s also a number that will be wide open for Duchene to take again in Columbus if Panarin leaves as expected. Even if Duchene changes his number, he’ll have a lifelong fan in a little boy in Cleveland. In fact, there’s only one thing Duchene could do that would make Mason Krieger sour on him. “I just don’t want him to go to Chicago,” Mason said
From The Archive: Sophomore Slump? How About A Bump
The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.
Blue Jackets Could Look To Flip Charlie Coyle At 2026 NHL Trade Deadline
Just hours before the 2025 NHL Draft, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche came together and worked out a deal that sent Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood to Columbus.
From The Archive: What About Joonas?
The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.
The Hockey News Sunday Recap: Columbus Blue Jackets
Did you miss anything from the past week at The Hockey News - Columbus Blue Jackets? If you did, we have you covered with the Sunday Recap. Click on each card below to read the stories from the past week.
Jarkko Ruutu Leaves Columbus Organization
Long-time NHLer and 10-year scout for the Columbus Blue Jackets is leaving the organization, according to an interview he did with <a href="https://www.is.fi/nhl/art-2000011446237.html">Tommi Koivunen</a>.