Duchesne Has Come a Long Way Quickly

Five years ago, Steve Duchesne was snubbed by all 21 National Hockey League teams for all 12 rounds of the draft.

Three years ago, Duchesne was marooned in New Haven, Conn., a million miles away from the guy sitting next to him. He couldn’t speak a syllable of English.

“Even though I got enough votes from people to start in this All-Star Game, I know there still will be some people in the East who will look and say, ‘Steve who?’ ” the Los Angeles Kings defenseman said Monday. “That’s OK. I’ve come a long way. And it’s hard for me to explain how happy I really am. This is a dream.”

The hype for Tuesday night’s 40th NHL All-Star Game at Northlands Coliseum is a double scoop of Wayne Gretzky.

Naturally, there’s the continuing drama of The Great One vs. Mario “The Greater One” Lemieux.

And, of course, there’s the tale of Gretzky returning to Edmonton to dress at his old locker, again center a line for Jari Kurri and play once more for Campbell Conference Coach Glen Sather.

Gretzky says that he’s eager for this one. The greatest attribute of No. 99, however, is that he raises all his teammates’ emotional commitment a notch as well. And judging by press conference exuberance, no one’s emotional commitment is higher than Duchesne’s.

With 17 goals and 58 points in 54 games, Duchesne is second only to Pittsburgh’s Paul Coffey in NHL defenseman scoring. He has earned his starting berth alongside Edmonton’s Kevin Lowe on the Campbell defense. He is the first Kings defenseman to make the All-Star Game in 14 years and has an outside shot of joining Coffey, Bobby Orr and Denis Potvin as the only defenseman in NHL history to score 100 points in a season.

Duchesne also knows that--in political terms--he rode Gretzky’s coattails in gaining 138,685 fan votes to edge Calgary’s better-known Gary Suter for the second starting defense berth. Gretzky’s linemate Luc Robitaille, in fact, used the new-found prominence of the Kings and the fact that there is less competition at left wing than center to beat Gretzky in the overall Campbell balloting.

“I think Luc is a little embarrassed about that,” said Duchesne, who is making only $130,000 this season, according to the Los Angeles Times, and is looking for a new, lucrative four-year deal. “You know, the first thing when you see Wayne coming and you don’t know a person is you’re afraid he’s all for his points and himself. Then, you get to know him. He’s such a nice person. And he pushes you. He wants to win so badly. You want to win for him.

“Before Wayne came, you didn’t get much attention in L.A. Now, we do. The fact that we’re winning more helps. And because of Robbie Ftorek (and his alleged dictatorial coaching ways), too.”

That last line was a joke. Duchesne, 23, is comfortable enough with the language now to launch a zinger or two.

It wasn’t always that way. Raised in Sept-Isles, Quebec, 10 hours north of Montreal near Labrador, Duchesne never left his home province until after he was signed in 1984 as a free agent by the Kings (on the advice of Alex Smart, the same scout who pushed for Robitaille).

Duchesne, who was named to NHL All-Rookie Team in 1987, carries a plus-27 on the ice this season. Off the ice in New Haven 1985-86, however, Duchesne carted around a big minus. He was the only French kid on the Nighthawks and couldn’t understand what people in Connecticut were saying. He was scared.

He used to close his eyes and point to anything on a menu at a restaurant. He almost got into fights with teammates whom he sensed were making fun of him. A frightened Duchesne lost 17 pounds at one point and ended up in the hospital.

Ftorek, then coaching the Nighthawks, got Duchesne started with an English tutor. Each day before hockey practice, he would practice his verbs, nouns and adjective. By last season, he was taking a class in sports medicine at Cal State Northridge and this season he’s close to completing a business class at Loyola Marymount.

His goal? To be just like his hero and fellow All-Star Larry Robinson of the Montreal Canadiens.

“As great as he is on the ice, he’s such a gentleman off it,” Duchesne said. “He handles himself so well. You know, only two years ago, I’d be afraid to talk to you. I was embarrassed of making mistakes. But, I wanted to learn English so badly. I love to talk. I’m still learning. Just like I’m learning on the ice.

“With Wayne on our team, it’s great. He teaches me how to play better and be confident. He’s taught me how to be patient with the puck. Not to rush.”

Patience paid off. Picked as the last player in the Quebec junior draft, Duchesne had his number retired by his Drummondville junior team. Unselected in the NHL draft, he has been voted as an All-Star by the fans. He has gone from overlooked to NHL All-Star.

“I just hope all those scouts are watching,” Duchesne said.