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Who's this guy? Shawn Matthias
Position: C/W
Shoots: L
Height: 6’4"
Weight: 223
Born: February 19, 1988
Drafted by Detroit with the 47th selection in the 2006 draft out of Belleville of the Ontario Hockey League. Matthias was dealt to Florida for Todd Bertuzzi in 2007… In 2014, Matty was brought to Vancouver in the trade that sent Luongo back to Florida… There is a weird connection between Matthias, Bertuzzi, and Luongo where we get Matthias from Detroit for Bertuzzi. I guess having a 27 year old Matthias now is better than having an unofficially retired Bertuzzi, we WIN!
What'd he do?
18-9 in some sports is the sign of a great season. Case in point, a pitcher who has an 18-9 season is likely going to be considered a candidate for the Cy Young award (dependent upon their other stats of course). Unfortunately those metrics don’t translate in hockey…
There are no doubts that Matthias has a value to an NHL team because of his adaptability. He spent time at all 3 forward positions during the course of the season; and spent time on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and injured list in the same timeframe.
So was he any good?
Shawn Matthias showed glimpses of brilliance. His best night as a Canuck happened against the Broooons on home ice where he netted 3 goals.
Hat Trick
What'd we like?
Potting 18 is pretty decent for a 3rd liner. In fact, he was tied for 3rd on the team in goals… He was tied with 2 of the triplets (Hank & the Burr) which is pretty good company in my opinion.
He has some pretty good wheels! Here’s an example via a nifty little goal vs. Carolina:
His 13.6% shooting percentage was pretty respectable considering the NHL average shooting percentage is around 9%.