Scott Gordon talks highly of him as often as he is asked. And he was asked almost nightly. Moulson was the only Islander this season to net 30 goals.
“I should have had at least five more but you jinxed.” He told me the night he hit 30. It wasn’t my fault.
Scott Gordon told Matt that he should play every game as if it was his last because he could always be sent to Bridgeport. That was the deal.
“No player has every taken my advice to heart the way Matt did.” He wasn’t supposed to make it out of training camp, he wasn’t supposed to stick. He stuck like super-glue to buddy John Tavares and a young struggling team. Maybe it is because Matt understands what it means to struggle, or maybe it’s because he’s a little more mature, but the man drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 9th round at 263 overall (check that again, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY THREE) ended up being this season’s Cinderella story for the Isles.
It’s not only Matt’s work ethic that has helped him this season; it’s also his “roll with the punches” personality. Even when the team came away with a devastating loss, he’d stand in the locker room dripping sweat from his long hair, looking reporters directly in the eye while answering the questions no hockey player wants to answer. He was never rude or abrupt and always offered a smile, forced or genuine, and always thanked them as he left. He quickly became the media darling and found himself on countless radio talk shows and in front of TV cameras. From this standpoint, he is VERY much like his landlord, Doug Weight. Perhaps there are budding leadership qualities in this 26-year-old from North York, Ontario.
When I asked Matt what he felt his greatest accomplishment was this season he told me
“Just playing in the League. Playing every single game.” Yep, Matt was one of the few Islanders that played all 82 games this season. He didn’t have to sit out for illness, injury or punishment.
“I think playing 82 games is a big deal. I played 29 the previous season.” (Actually, according to the stat sheet, he played 7 with the LA Kings in the ’08-’09 season and 22 in ’07-’08. But yes, that does add up to 29. The boy from Cornell can count.)
“So playing all the games and potting some pucks in the back of the net is pretty good.”
With 208 shots on the season, of Matt’s 30 goals, 8 were power play goals and 5 were game winners and most of them came from right outside the paint where Moulson took some extreme abuse. I asked him, quite seriously, if he has scars on his back from being cross checked so many times. He chuckled and smiled looking up with those basset hound brown eyes,
“I’m a little sore, but it’s worth it – worth it for goals.”
I asked him what he would be working on this summer, other than the wedding of course.
“I work out every summer, so it won’t be any different. Just getting quicker and working on skating. It will be pretty much the same as last summer.”
Yeah, right. Wait Matt.
I asked him when he starts looking forward to the season starting up again, but knew he’s got a full plate.
“I’ll probably get a break after the wedding is done. I’ll be hoping for the season after that!”
This season Moulson was a bargain at $575,000. With luck, negotiations with the NY Islanders will be amicable and result in a new deal for Matt that will keep him with John Tavares who seems to be very comfortable with him. But since Matt is getting married, JT will have to find another room mate because I don’t think they can ALL live in Doug Weight’s pool house. Can they?
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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