“But on the team side of it, it was such a huge honor. To wear the ‘C’ in a city like Montreal with all the history it has, all the former captains before me, the names I’d look up and see in the dressing room, it’s hard to put into words what it meant.
“You’re named captain for a reason. You don’t change anything. You’re obviously doing something that reflects leadership so you stick to your morals and values, the way you work and how you want to build the foundation of your core.”
Weber remembers all of this now and will try to distill it into seven — probably fewer — minutes when he is inducted with the Class of 2024. It’s the fans, he said, who made this journey very special, and they will forever have a unique place in his heart.
“I can’t thank the fans in Nashville and Montreal enough,” he said. “The support they showed me for my career, starting in Nashville as a young kid — I really was a young kid, 20, 21 when I started there — I was still growing up and it became my home for 11 years. They welcomed me into their community, in a great city that I love.
“Then the fans in Montreal — their passion is second to none for their sport. Welcoming me after the trade, making me feel comfortable, the cheers, the playoff run, the time we had in Montreal, I can’t say enough about the memories I’ll have in that city, all the good times we had.”
Top photo: Shea Weber participates in the Enterprise NHL Hardest Shot contest during the 2020 NHL All-Star Skills competition at Enterprise Center in St Louis, Missouri. Weber won the event with a shot of 105.9 mph, his fourth victory in his four times taking part.
