Remember, this was the player who said on the day Colorado drafted him: “I keep looking down at the logo and going, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I used to draw their logo every day in school. I’m just so happy. Every kid dreams of playing for his boyhood team. It’s crazy. They have not had a top pick in many years, and the one year I’m available and rated up there, they have it. It’s kind of fate, I guess.”

Two weeks after Duchene was drafted, he attended the Avalanche development camp and then went to the Inverness Hotel to attend Sakic’s retirement news conference. Duchene never got to play with one of his idols, and the relationship would evolve to player and GM.

The storybook had a sour ending.

-Terry Frei of Mile High Sports where you can read much more on the Duchene trade.