Welcome to "Vaulted," a new series in which we take a look back a moments that are worthy of being enshrined within the Florida Panthers Virtual Vault, which is presented by our friends at Baptist Health.
It was the shift that simply wouldn't end.
In a wild series of events that has become somewhat of a folk tale among Florida Panthers fans, Stephen Weiss somehow ended up skating an eye-popping 5:43 during a single arduous shift against the Washington Capitals on March 6, 2011.
Taking the ice at 2:36 of the second period to run point on Florida's power play, Weiss played the entire two minutes of the man advantage before being forced fall back on defense after Washington completed the kill and went on the attack.
Pinned in his own zone, he nearly had a chance to get to the bench but was denied when the Panthers iced the puck at 6:19. From there, he remained on the ice just a bit longer before a penalty at 6:47 finally awarded him a short breather.
Despite there being a television timeout following the infraction, Weiss was still technically in the midst of the same shift when play resumed. And when the Cats began their penalty kill, he headed right back onto the ice to take the key draw.
In the end, his mammoth shift finally came to an end at 8:19 of the middle frame.
"I thought it was a key point where we needed a goal. Then I got stuck out there against [Alex] Ovechkin's line. I was all out for staying out there. Once you're out there that long, they forget about you. I didn't look toward the bench. If I was tired, I would have come out.'
While likely no one remembers the score from this game (the Capitals topped the Panthers 3-2 in overtime on a goal from Alex Semin), Weiss' epic shift is likely still something that pops up from time to time when two superfans get together.
Lacing up his skates from 2001-13 with the Panthers, Weiss remains near the top of several categories within the franchise's all-time record books. As of now, he still ranks fourth in points (394), third in assists (249) and sixth in goals (145).
Weiss also stands as the franchise's all-time leader in games played (654).
"It was an honor to be drafted here," Weiss said of his time with the Panthers when he was honored by the organization in 2019. "I enjoyed my time here."
