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Matthias wants to fill Weiss’ shoes in Florida

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By any reasonable measure, last season was Shawn Matthias’ best in the NHL. Perhaps that explains why he told the Florida Sun-Sentinel that he hopes to fill the role of departed center Stephen Weiss.

“He taught me a lot and really helped me about life off the ice, too, being a professional,’' Matthias said. “I owe him a lot. Now it’s my turn to do the same thing with the young guys.

“Last year was the first time that Weiss and some centers weren’t around, so it let me play and gave me confidence that I can actually play those kind of roles. Now I have to build on it and like [GM Dale Tallon] said, I can’t just play good one out of every three games.’'

Matthias, 25, admits that he needs to go from showing flashes of brilliance to being an everyday performer. Tomas Kopecky is one of his proponents, stating that he can “easily” be a 20-goal scorer.

One could trot out stats like the fact that he scored 11 of his 14 goals last season in a 16-game stretch, but watching this highlight-reel goal is far more fun.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins