While hockey is best known among many for the fights that break out on the ice, one of its star players took to Instagram to make his faith and gratefulness a major part of how he plays the sport. That is Dallas Stars center Matt Duchene who, after playing his 1000th game in December of 2023, posted a video and lengthy caption on Instagram in which he thanked all those who helped him become the man he is and in which he thanked the Lord above for His help.
“Last night was beyond surreal… the whole night all I could think about was what 10 year old me woulda thought… can’t express how grateful I am and how much God has blessed me to live my dream everyday and get to play 1000 games in the best league in the world,” he began the post, bringing up God and his faith from the start, and expressing gratefulness.
Duchene continued, thanking his family and mentors for sticking with him and guiding him along, saying, “I wanna give a huge thank you to everyone who has been a part of my journey… my wife, kids, parents, friends, extended family and all the coaches, teachers, and mentors I’ve been so lucky to have… last night, to me, was more about you as it was about me. I would never be here without you.”
Then he thanked his teammates and other hockey players for their kind comments as he reached the 1000 games mark, saying, “To all my teammates along the way, I’ve been so lucky to play alongside you and thank all of you who have reached out to me the last couple days… it has blown me away how many messages I’ve gotten, it’s meant the world.”
Continuing on that point, he wrote, “To the @dallasstars organization, my coaches and my teammates, you guys made last night so special… the love you showed my family and I was overwhelming and you guys having Beau read the starting lineup along with my dad was the greatest moment of my career so far… I’ve watched the video easily 100 times. Thank you so much, I’m so grateful to be a Dallas Star.”
Similarly, he thanked those on teams he has played on in the past for all they have done to help him along his path, writing, “I also wanna thank the @coloradoavalanche , @senators , @bluejacketsnhl , @predsnhl organizations for having me be a part of your teams over the years, I’m so lucky to have played so many great places… and to all the fans, thanks for all the love and support everywhere I’ve been.”
Then, ending the post similarly to how he began it, by focusing on the Lord and thanking Him, Duchene again thanked God for His help and blessings, saying, “This caption has already been way too long but last I just wanna thank the Good Lord above for the life and career You’ve given me… I’m grateful for it every single day. I feel truly blessed.”
Featured image credit: By 5of7 – Matt Duchene, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32002222