Duchene Sounds Off On First Fight, Tweeting

DENVER (CBS) - Some fans of the Colorado Avalanche say rising star Matt Duchene reminds them of skating great Joe Sakic.

While Duchene says he's certainly honored by the comparisons, one area where he's decidedly different is in the social media realm. Sakic certainly never did any tweeting with the fans during his long career.

"I keep it really non-controversial (on Twitter) and I try to get attention to our team -- pump some guys tires here and there and gets fans excited about this team," Duchene told CBS4's Gary Miller.

Duchene said he thinks it's important to make sure fans feel like they are part of what's going on, so he has decided to be very active on the social network. Some recent tweets include "So excited to skate with one of my boyhood idols, Peter Forsberg. One of the most surreal things ever." and "Big win for the boys! HUGE goal by factor on a great pass from Winny! And THANK YOU for comin out, what a crowd!"

"I throw some fun stuff on there sometimes, too," he said.

He recently posted some tweets about Chuck Norris jokes. His favorite of those?

"Chuck Norris killed two stones with one bird."

While Duchene says being like Sakic is what he's striving for all the time, now that he's a solifidied All Star he has time to think about some other things beyond all the Xs and Os of hockey. One of those things was his first NHL fight.

"I think that fight was maybe the turning point for me where I decided to do something for myself and have some fun doing it. We were winning by a lot, and I didn't need to, but it was one of those times where I had the opportunity and I just wanted to."

Duchene says his teammates were a bit surprised that he started throwing punches.

"(A teammate said) saw me drop my gloves and he was scared to death of what was going to happen because no one knew if I could fight. And then he said he just saw me just start throwing hard so he (didn't jump in.)"

Related Link: Twitter.com/matt9duchene