Things are pretty good here in Rochester. Winter isn’t as bad as I thought it would be at this time of year. Winter hasn’t started up quite yet, so that’s nice.
There’s an excitement right now around the team up here. There’s a new slogan, ‘It’s A New Day for a Rochester Tradition.’ There’s new ownership. They signed a couple of older guys to help the team. So there’s a lot of excitement around here and there’s a lot of excitement around the new coach. He’s come out of junior with a great record and he definitely has a great background. The guys are excited, too. We have a positive outlook on the season.
Last year, all those losses made for a long year. But it definitely feels like a new club, a new team, and a fresh start.
I felt I did pretty well in (Panthers’ training) camp this year. With the travel and everything I think it was tough to feel great at certain times. But I felt I played pretty well considering, and I had a chance to stay around after camp and practice with the guys. I feel comfortable at the NHL level and I think I’m close to playing there. . . READ MORE
The Amerks have also put out a nearly five-minute audio interview with Shawn Matthias, so just a couple of quotes that I pulled from it, which you can listen to in its entirety, here:
It was exciting to start my pro career. It was a little upsetting with how the weekend went, but we're still looking for that first win and I'm still trying to settle but I feel more comfortable as the days go by and I'm excited for this weekend and for all the rest of the games.
About being traded to Florida for Bertuzzi:
Yeah, they obviously wanted me and I'm excited to be here. I've enjoyed it since day one. They've treated me really well and they have from that day one. Hopefully I can help this team win and hopefully in the future, I can help Florida win.
Winning gold for Canada at the WJCs:
It was the best feeling I've ever had in my life. Since day one when we went to camp it was just a thrill. It was just overwhelming how many fans we have and it was just real exciting. You're playing with the best players at your age and guys that are going to be stars in the NHL one day and competing against them on a nightly basis was awesome, and brining the gold home for Canada was the best feeling I've had.
He goes on to talk about a number of things, including his spell with mono last season, ultimately winding up in the hospital to recover. Take a listen if you've got five minutes.
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