Avalanche Star Joins Twitter To Help Team's Lagging Ticket Sales

Duchene Has Amassed More Than 4,200 Followers Since Joining Twitter

Avalanche C Matt Duchene said that he joined Twitter last week "to give the Avalanche a hand at the box office," according to Adrian Dater of the DENVER POST. The team "remains mired in 26th place in home attendance," so Duchene "wants to do something about it, starting with making his personal life and observations more open to the public." Duchene yesterday said, "You look at our team, and we've got so much talent and guys that are worth watching, and it's discouraging to go out on a Wednesday night and see 12,000-13,000 fans. I thought to myself, 'What can I do, other than continuing to try and help the team on the ice, to help it off the ice.'" He added, "My main motivation was to try and put more people in the seats. Because when we play in front of a full house, it's a lot more energy." In the seven days since he joined Twitter, Duchene already has amassed more than 4,200 followers. Avalanche Senior VP/Communications & Team Services Jean Martineau said that the team "did not have a problem with Duchene's new account," believed to be the first for an Avalanche player. Duchene said, "I'm going to encourage people to come out and watch the team. I know there's a lot of people from Denver on there" (DENVER POST, 12/9).