A long injury, series in a bubble in Toronto and matches played behind closed doors. Shea Weber may have played five seasons in the Canadian uniform, but his time in Montreal was also made up of a series of missed meetings with the public.
Posted at 9:01 p.m.
Habs fans had the opportunity to give him some love again Saturday night, when his name was added to the Ring of Honor at the Bell Center, a treatment reserved for alumni of the team admitted to the Hall of fame.
Given a standing ovation for almost two minutes, Weber tried to calm the clamor with “thank you, thank you” in French.
“Good evening, Montreal,” he added in French, before switching to English. “I’m happy to be back. It was an honor to play for the Canadian. […] I will always be grateful to have had the chance to play in front of you at the Bell Centre. »
He concluded his speech, brief and without fantasy, in his image, with a “thank you very much” in French.
It was on the wall at the back of section 423 that his name and number 6 were revealed. To his left, Pierre Turgeon’s 77. To his right, a free space where, logically, Carey Price’s number 31 will be written, possibly as early as next year. The former goaltender will be eligible for the Hall for the first time in 2025.
It was Serge Savard who unveiled the inscription. A nice return from the former CEO, who said last month that he met Weber at a restaurant in Candiac a few years ago. “The first thing I knew was that he had paid my bill,” Savard added.
Teammates too
This tribute was added to a week already full of emotions and attention, for a guy who does not have exactly the same thirst for the cameras as the one for whom he was exchanged. Indeed, Evgenii Dadonov was crazy about it, it seems.
On November 8, Weber received his Hall of Fame ring and underwent a thirty-minute press scrum. Monday was his induction, which six of his former Canadiens teammates, including Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, attended after their afternoon game in Buffalo that day.
PHOTO CHRISTOPHER KATSAROV, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Shea Weber delivers a speech during her induction into the Hall of Fame alongside the Class of 2024 in Toronto on Friday, November 8, 2024.
“I told the guys I couldn’t believe they were there. It meant a lot that Geoff [Molson] organized this. [Jeff] Petry et [Ben] Chiarot came from Detroit. They didn’t have to be there. I love the teammates I played with and tried to build relationships. It seems like they still love me enough to drive a few hours to come see me. »
Then, on Saturday, this speech to the fans and the unveiling of his name in the heights of the Bell Center, without forgetting his plaque in the Canadian locker room. At the time of speaking to us, late in the afternoon, he had not yet seen said plaque. “But the guys made fun of me,” he said.
“You come into that locker room and you see all these legends on top of the players’ lockers, all guys who are real role models. So it’s cool for me to be there, even if the guys are going to tease me for a while. »
Weber is now expected in Nashville, where his original team, the Predators, will celebrate his entry among the immortals next Saturday, along with his former GM David Poile, also inducted this year, as a builder.
It was in Music City that Weber played for most of his career, but it was in Montreal that he came closest to the ultimate goal, the Stanley Cup. And he did not hide that the three victories that CH missed in 2021 still hurt. That said, this improbable run to the final is part of the legacy he wants fans to keep from him.
“I came here, I gave my heart and soul. I tried to help this city win the Stanley Cup. We came very close, and it really hurt, but I really gave everything in this uniform. »
This is a phrase we often hear about players with a combative nature. If there is one who has earned the right to use it, it is Weber, who retired at the age of 35.
