Young+Athletic+Goes+To+Avs+28

= = = = = = = A Day To Remember  =

One cloudy morning in Denver, Colorado where it is as cold as the Rocky Mountains, Matt woke up as slow as a turtle. As soon as he woke up, he went out to his huge,brown, 2 car garage to get his brand new Eastons which he had gotten for his 11th birthday. Matt, time to eat! his mom yelled from the back door. Matt hustled back to the house with his skates and his blue vapor gloves. He ate breakfast, eggs and bacon, which he enjoyed very much. After breakfast he ask his dad to take him to Family Sports where he skated every day. About 10 minutes later he jumped out of the car as fast as a jaguar. He sat down to put on his skates, gazing up through the window where he could see the ice rink. The Colorado Avalanche were practicing. "WOW!" he said as he was walking closer to the window. ''Meulan Hedjuk, Paul Stansty, Craig Anderson," Matt said to himself. He had never seen anything so cool in his whole life.

He stood there for at least 30 minutes before he turned to his skates and started putting them on. "Finally!" he said as he tied the last skate in a knot. Matt got up and started toward the door. He didn't have a piece of paper to get autographs so he thought he could shake the player's hands as they came off the ice. He ran as fast as he could. TOO LATE!!!! "Ahh this stinks!" he mumbled to himself as he stepped onto the ice. After 30 minutes he stepped off the ice with white snow all over his blades. He waited a long time for his dad before his silver Buick pulled up to the rink. The ride back was speechless. That night Matt lay in bed thinking about the Avs gliding on the ice like a airplane on the runway and decided he wanted to work even harder on the ice and become the first 11 year old to play NHL hockey. The next morning he got up at 7:00 A.M. to eat breakfast and head to the rink. At the rink he skated for 4 hours before he was exhausted. As soon as he got home he slept until dinner and got up and ate as much as his stomach could hold. That next morning he slept in.

When he woke up, he heard yelling. It was his mom and dad. He had never seen his parents fight in his whole life. He started getting up, but then he thought real hard before he decided to stay in bed and listen. Matt didn't skate that day because of what happened earlier that morning .On Saturday, he skated at Family and watched the Avs practice again. He rode the bus home because his dad had to work late and his mom was too busy making designs for the wedding dress store. He got dropped off about 10 minutes from his house, so he walked the rest off the way.By the time he got home his parents were furious at each other. Matt stayed outside and shot hoops with the orange NCAA ball for a while. When he thought it was quiet enough, he put the ball down and went straight to his room. That night his mind was going so crazy that he couldn't even think about one thing, so he just went to bed still mad about what happened .The next morning Matt woke up at 6:00 and walked out the door to ride the bus to Family Sports.

Late that night Matt's parents called him down to the living room."What do you want?" Matt said in a soft voice.

"Just wait and see," and down the stairs they went. THUMP THUMP!!! They all sat on the green sofa where it was quiet at first,but then his dad spoke up and said, "I know me and mom have been fighting a lot so were are going to have to ........... DIVORCE."

"WHAT!!!????" Matt said in a horrified voice. Matt got up as fast as a roadrunner and went out the door, slamming it as hard as he could behind him. The next few days, Matt rode the bus to family and skated as long as his feet could hold him up. When he went home he went straight to his room and never came out.

Matt woke up on a sunny, sad Saturday, grabbed his skates, and walked out the door ready to catch the bus. He saw that a bunch of kids his age were playing a game. Matt asked if he could join them, and they all nodded and said yes. After 15 minutes he looked over to the boards and saw the whole Avs team standing there, even the coach. "Come on!" the boys said to Matt. "Lets show them what we got." Ten minutes passed and all the boys, including Matt, thought they should get off and let the Avs practice. The boys all shook the players hands and starting getting their skates off. When Matt was about done shaking their hands, Joe Sacko, the coach, took Matt over and said "Be at the drafts!" in a huge strong voice.

"Ok," Matt said. "I'll be there. Where is it?" Matt asked.

"ESPN Center," he said.

Matt ran over to the bench and started taking his skates off as fast as he could. The bus ride zoomed by and he ran in the house and went straight to his dad and told him about what happened. That night he slept like a log and didn't wake up until ten. The draft was not untill Wednesday so Matt thought he still had to skate and keep in shape for his season. Finally, the day arrived and Matt was all ready to go. He asked his dad to take him all the way to the ESPN Center. He and his dad stopped at Carl's Junior and had lunch together before Matt said he was going to be late, so they hopped in the car and they were on their way.

It was a long ride, but sooner or later they were there and had their seats. The whole time Matt had a smile on his face, watching with both eyes on the podium. After a long time, the Avs were up and picking their players wisely and proudly. It came to the last pick for the Avs and Joe Sacko was looking at a small peice of paper. He looked up with a face expression that looked like he just remembered something. He put down the paper and whispered something into the announcers ear. "The 4th round pick, going to the Colorado Avalanche is..................................................MATT DUCHENE!!!"

"WHAT!!" Matt said in a high pitched voice. He looked over to his dad and his mouth was wide open and his eyes were as big as an owl.Matt sat wide eyed too for a minute before he turned to his dad and looked at him very carefully. He squeezed his dad as hard as he could squeeze and started toward the podium. He stepped on, and Joe Sacko handed him a small, blue, number 9 jersey. He walked back to where he was sitting.

"Thats my boy!" his dad said as they were walking out the door toward the car. On the way back, Matt told hm all about watching the Avs pratice and about Joe Sacko telling him to be at the draft."Why did he draft you? Did he see you play?" his dad asked.

"Well, before he told me to be at the drafts, he saw me playing a pickup game at Family Sports."

As soon as he got home he ran in the house to tell his mom everything. Matt praticed for 5 weeks with the Avs before the first game. .It was on Saturday night and they were at home In the Pepsi Center. Matt had his dad drop him off at 10:00 in the morning at Family Sports where they practiced before the game. That night Matt sat on the bench and thought about the dream that he was living right now. Matt's parents ended up not getting a divorce and loving each other. Both Matt and his parents had a smile on their faces that night because they would never forget this day in their whole life.