Yesterday, the hockey world was taken by surprise when Shea Weber was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He obviously didn’t have a bad career, but he wasn’t THE best defender of his era either.
His candidacy is undoubtedly based on the sum of everything he has done. Even if he doesn’t have a Stanley Cup, he often represented his country, played a long time, was a feared defender…
And he had an aura. When you talked about Shea Weber, you knew you were talking about a great one.
When Marc Bergevin traded PK Subban to make room for Shea Weber on his team (and especially to get the Ontarian out of Montreal), he wanted to change the dynamic of his blue line, but also of his organization.
He got what he wanted in the end.
But the question arises even if Weber was excellent in Montreal and had a great career in Nashville: is he really worthy of a player who enters the Hall of Fame only three years after the end of his career, i.e. his first year of eligibility?
According to Jonathan Bernier, it wasn’t that urgent. And he’s not the only one who thinks this way.
Obviously, when a player like him comes in, it creates waves. After all, if Jeremy Roenick and Pavel Datsyuk deserve their place, many people wonder why Weber passed over the Gary Suters or Alexander Moginlys of this world.
But above all, this opens the door even more to different names.
In Montreal, we wonder if Weber will be the only player of his era who played for the Canadian and who will be inducted into the Hall. Note also that for people of my generation, he is the first player we saw in Montreal who saw the doors of the Temple open…
By force of circumstances, we can talk about PK Subban. However, his career was a little too short, right?
And that brings us to Carey Price. The debate around his legacy with the Canadiens (both in terms of his place in the Hall of Fame and seeing his jersey retired) has already existed for a long time and seeing Weber in the Hall gives a kind of comparison.
After all, if Weber got in because he is considered one of the great players of his generation at his position, for having played in a final in 2021, for his accomplishments with Hockey Canada and for his reputation, Price also deserves its place.
Price has been to the final four in the playoffs more often than Weber. He won individual honors that Weber didn’t (at their respective positions, obviously) and he played his entire career in a market like Montreal.
This is not opinion, it is fact. If Price had a greater career than Weber, he must be at the Temple on the sidelines of yesterday’s news. Whether you think it’s fair or not. The comparable has been established.
If we fall into opinion, I still think that Price, the winningest goalie in the history of the Canadiens in the regular season, deserves his place in the sun one day. It doesn’t have to happen next year, though. And I was not of the opinion that Weber was a lock for the Temple, let’s say.
We’ll see in due course, of course, but seeing Weber in the Hall of Fame in 2024 changes things and gives an idea of how the people who vote evaluate guys who have had a career like Weber or Price.
A lot of
– Speaking of the wolf.
– Will he be the next Blue Jackets coach?
– Blue Jays victory.
– Canadian victory, but…
– To read.
– Oh yes?
