Matt Duchene diggin in for sophomore scrunch

By terrance gavan - PTE Editor

You have to know that Matt Duchene is feeling at least some overarching detritus from a helluva rookie campaign.
Here's what the young Haliburton product is facing.
Pressure, pressure, pressure baby.
Duchene finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting last season.
He's dealing with that dreaded specter of the sophomore jinx.
He's put on weight but dropped body fat.
There's this wild and crazy Steve Stamkos thing looming loopy on a horizon.
Stamkos and Duchene had eerily similar rookie seasons.
We know what Stamkos did in his sophomore season.
Only tied Sid the Kid for maurice Richard honors - emblematic of most goals in the NHL.
Now - ring a dingy - Duchene is stepping into the spotlight.
He spent a week in Manhatten prior to training camp with 19 other NHL heavy hittin' dudes.
The Haliburton Hurricane is now regarded as one of the league's rising young talents.
Nice piece here re the kid with the bid.
From AP and ESPN.

Riders dip and dive during Crank the Shield at Sir Sam’s

By Terrance Gavan

Photo by terrance Gavan - PTE - great day for racing at sir sam's 

Shake, rattle and roll baby.

   Elvis has left the building.

   On a full-smush Trek Enduro.

   Don’t step on those Blue Suede Shoes y’all.

   Make no mistake, the Haliburton Highlands is rapidly becoming a first class destination for mountain bikers, weekend warriors and stellar sanctioned mountain bike races.

   Last Sunday morning some 290 colorfully clad riders revved up for the final stage of the now famous, infamous and unanimously transcendent Crank the Shield mountain bike race.

   Three days of Hell. Heaven. And for some … Limbo.

   The racers left Sir Sam’s parking lot at 9:30 am sharp and headed for the top o’ the hill; a challenging dipsy doodle up bunched up an old logging trail; and then down  the back side of the front side of the intricate system of trails laid out all over the ski runs at Sir Sam’s Ski and Summer Resort.