Weber is a beast on the blue line
Value of now-healthy team captain goes far beyond what the stats sheets show
The statistics are there for everyone to see when it comes to Shea Weber. Since returning to the lineup after missing almost a full year following foot and knee surgeries, the Canadiens defenceman has played four games, averaging a team-high 24:56 of ice time with two goals, one assist, a plus4 and a team-high average of 3.3 hits per game. But there’s a lot more the Canadiens’ captain brings to his team that fans and the media don’t get to see. “How he handles himself,” coach Claude Julien said after practice Wednesday in Brossard as the Canadiens prepared to face the Senators Thursday night in Ottawa (7:30 p.m., TSN2, TSN5, RDS, TSN 690 Radio). “He’s here early in the morning and he does all the things he has to do to prepare for work and all that stuff. He’ll be here early, getting a good breakfast. Preparing, working out and making sure that he’s doing all the right things. So he’s a great example. Most teams have at least one or two players who can do that. So we’re lucky we got one of the best.” There’s a reason why Weber’s teammates call him Dad. The question is how much longer can the 33-year-old be a Man Mountain on the blue line — especially coming off surgeries for tendon damage in his left foot and a meniscal tear in his right knee. Weber has seven more seasons after this one remaining on his 14-year, US$110-million contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $7.857 million. For the remainder of his career, Weber will be compared with P.K. Subban, the player the Canadiens dealt to Nashville in order to get him. Subban, 29, has 2-10-12 totals in 18 games this season with the Predators and is plus-8 while averaging 22:43 of ice time. Subban has been on the injured-reserve list since Nov. 15 with an upper-body injury and has three more seasons after this remaining on his eight-year, US$72-million contract. After Tuesday’s morning skate, Julien was asked if Weber reminds him of Zdeno Chara or Andrei Markov, two veteran defencemen he coached in the past with the Boston Bruins and Canadiens, respectively. The name Julien brought up instead was former Detroit Red Wing Nicklas Lidstrom, who retired six years ago at age 42, one year after winning his seventh Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenceman. “He was such a good player, but made the game look so simple and I think that’s where Shea is a lot like that,” Julien said. “You see him, as soon as he sees somebody open he moves the puck. It may look simple, it may look boring to the player himself, but to everybody’s eyes it’s effective and it’s what keeps players the kind of players that they are through their whole career. I think that’s where you
You see him, as soon as he sees somebody open he moves the puck ... To everybody’s eyes it’s effective.
go back to Lidstrom and Chara — that was one of his idols. Those are guys that you can use as good examples and that’s what Shea does. He can play lots of minutes because he doesn’t put himself in positions where he’s got to exhaust himself. He keeps the game simple. So as long as you keep it simple, you don’t have to overwork yourself and you’re able to play 25 or maybe even 27 minutes at times per night.” Julien added that apart from having the hardest shot in the NHL, Weber still defends well, killing plays quickly and moving the puck up out of the defensive zone. There also aren’t many players who want to go into the corner with the 6-foot-4, 229-pounder or stand in front of the Canadiens net when he’s there. Speed has never been Weber’s strong point and age catches up to every player, especially in today’s fast-paced NHL. But Weber says he hasn’t really had to change his game in recent years. “I don’t think so,” he said after practice Wednesday. “I haven’t noticeably. Maybe just subconsciously change stuff, but nothing that I’ve said, ‘I got to do this instead.’ ” Weber has shown he is still able to handle a huge workload, even after missing almost a full year. “He plays the game in a way that those 25 minutes, they don’t really even seem hard to him,” Julien said. “I know that probably about a month ago (former Edmonton Oilers coach) Todd McLellan talked about (Connor) McDavid’s game and how he doesn’t seem like a guy who ever gets tired. I think Shea seems to be the same way as a defenceman. With that kind of ice time and the kind of game he plays, I’m not saying he plays like McDavid. It’s more about how he manages his ice time. By the end of the game, he’s given a real good effort, but he doesn’t look tired. He can still log a lot of more minutes. So you have to give him credit for how he’s come back and been able to do that right from the get-go.” He is still a Man Mountain.