Duchene Finds Assurance In God, Country Music

Avalanche Forward Not Deterred Despite Team Struggles

One of the best ways that Duchene has been able to take his mind off of hockey is through music.

From the earliest of ages, hockey, music, and faith have been the three biggest pieces of NHLer Matt Duchene’s life. Although now owning a dog and recently becoming engaged to longtime girlfriend, Ashley Grossaint, Duchene is still able to maintain his connection to both music and faith, even through the difficulties of an arduous hockey season.

Duchene’s Avalanche have found themselves sitting as cellar dwellers for the past two seasons. With wins extremely hard to come by, Colorado is currently on pace for the worst statistical season in franchise history since relocating from Quebec City in 1995.

“My faith is definitely one of the biggest things in my life that I lean on,” Duchene says. “You know, it has definitely been tested this year, but it’s the foundation of my life, and I try to live that way every day.”

The 2016-17 NHL season has not been kind to the 26-year-old centreman. With just 36 points in 62 games played, Duchene has found difficulty scoring goals—something new for the former prolific junior hockey sniper. But through his troubles, he has been able to stick to his beliefs and his Christian upbringing, relying on his connection with God to help him through the difficult times.

“I just try to stay true to who I am, true to my roots and true to my faith,” he says. “I feel that I have done a good job of that so far, and it’s definitely something that I know I will make sure that I stay with and continue that way. As a kid my family went to church quite a bit. Obviously it was tough with hockey at times, but my parents made an effort to take us there and just get the Word into us. I think it was the right way to be brought up for sure.”

While playing a professional sport, attending Sunday morning church services becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible. But luckily for Duchene and others, there are options readily available for Christian athletes.

“We have Tim Burke with Hockey Ministries International in Colorado, who runs our chapels,” Duchene says. “Tim comes in and we get together for about a half hour. It’s nothing crazy, nothing too long, but it’s good just to get the Word into you and to be thinking about the right stuff. Those chapels always seem to come at the right times. Especially with it being such a trying season here, HMI been a big part of how I am trying to get through it.”

Although HMI is able to provide peace and guidance for its athletes through chapels, phone calls and visits, a lot of the time the ball is in the court of the athlete.

“It is definitely HMI that keeps me involved for sure,” Duchene says. “But I also have a Bible app on my phone that I used to read a daily verse… which I try to keep on my mind all day. I pray a fair bit, but I also believe that you can be a practicing Christian without going to church every week, for sure.”

One of the best ways that Duchene has been able to take his mind off of hockey is through music. As a wellseasoned acoustic guitarist, Duchene has already had the opportunity to get to know many of his country music idols. From playing ‘NHL 13’ with Dierks Bentley on his tour bus, to sharing the stage with Lee Brice during the 2016 NHL All-Star weekend fan festival, Duchene’s country music roots are alive and well.

The many ties between Christianity and country music have often been noted. For Duchene, it is both the Christian themes and the many childhood teachings that speak volumes to him through his favourite music genre.

“Country and Christianity really go well together,” he says. “I can just relate to it all around as it’s just the way that I grew up. I feel as though some of the songs are about my life, so that’s definitely why I like it as much as I do. My two favourite Bible verses are Philippians 4:13—“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,”—and Hebrews 6:19—“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Those two have really kept me going through the tough times this year.”

Although this hockey season did not go according to Duchene’s plan, he knows that 2016-17 was just a very small wrinkle on a much larger canvas.

“I really don’t know if there is anything else faith-wise that I can do, except be positive and realize that God has a big plan for everybody here,” he says. “I just try to keep telling myself that as times continue to get tough. You just try to be the best person—the best Christian— you can be every day. It’s easy to get wrapped up in stuff sometimes, but you just have to stay true to your roots and who you are.”

/ CARTER BROOKS is a news writer and sports columnist situated in Winnipeg, Manitoba. On top of reading and writing, coaching hockey is his favourite pastime. Carter can be reached at carterbrooks1994@gmail.com.

Photos courtesy of Will Borys