Colorado Avalanche: What to Like About Shawn Matthias
The Colorado Avalanche acquired forward Shawn Matthias from the Toronto Maple Leafs for prospect Colin Smith. Since his acquisition, Matthias has earned three goals and an assist in eight games.
When the Colorado Avalanche first acquired Shawn Matthias from the Toronto Maple Leafs, my first reaction was, “I wonder who that is.” However, Colorado has a history of making small moves at the trade deadline, so I just decided to wait and see.
Thus far, I like what I’m seeing. Altitude radio announcer Marc Moser described Matthias on Twitter as “tenacious.” That is a very apt description of Shawn Matthias.
Matthias has scored three goals (four if you count the disallowed goal against the Anaheim Ducks) for the Colorado Avalanche.
His first goal as an Avalanche already showed that tenaciousness:
Colorado is swarming in front of the San Jose Sharks net. Matthias keeps his focus on the puck and manages to tip it in. As Patrick Roy says, good things happen in front of the net.
Here’s Shawn Matthias’ second goal as an Avalanche:
It’s another example of his staying on the puck. He just refuses to give up on a play.
Since we’re at it, let’s look at Matthias’ third goal:
Sure enough, there he is, lurking in front of the net like a creep — you know, the good kind of creep that scores goals.
Funnily enough, the one goal that didn’t count was the time he was on a breakaway.
Actually, I love watching Shawn Matthias on a breakaway. It’s not that he’s a big skill player. He’s got this cool fake-out move. As he’s skating toward the net, he’ll deliberately look at a teammate to his left before shooting the puck. Or, he’ll look right at the goalie and dish the puck off to a teammate. It’s a definite Shawn Matthias special — I’ve seen him do it in three games now, and those are just the ones I’ve caught.
Matthias skates on a checking line and sees an average of 13 minutes per game. He’s good for a shot or two per game but is more about laying a few big hits and driving the net.
In fact, Matthias himself said his focus was more on “playing a big man’s game.” He should know — he comes in at a beefy 6-foot-4, 231 pounds. That’s Erik Johnson size.
What’s more, Matthias is currently skating on a line with 6-foot-3, 216-pound Carl Soderberg and 6-foot-3, 220-pound Andreas Martinsen. That’s 650 pounds of hockey player skating around — talk about a checking line! Even when captain Gabriel Landeskog returns, that’s still a heck of a bruising line.
During the presser, Matthias further described his role:
"“I’m not here to play a skill game. I’m here to play a strong power forward type. I just want to get to the front of the net and work hard every night.”"
That’s exactly the kind of gritty attitude the Colorado Avalanche need from one of their grinders.
In fact, if you’re a grinder on Patrick Roy’s Avalanche team, the way to keep making the team is to win your battles in the corners, finish your checks and drive the net. (The skill players have to do a fair amount of that as well.) Shawn Matthias is a player built to play that kind of game, which is why Colorado traded for him.
It’s also why Matthias has already been fitting in with the team. By his own words, “It’s been really easy to adjust to being an Avalanche.”
Next: Does Eric Gelinas Benefit the Avs?
So, what is there to like about Shawn Matthias? He’s a big man playing a big man’s game — finishing his checks, driving the net, getting pucks down low and just overall working hard. The hard work is paying off to benefit the Colorado Avalanche since he already has three goals.
Plus, that’s the kind of play a lot of the players need to emulate.