The Nashville Predators Shea Weber has certainly been in the news lately.
For most athletes that isn’t necessarily a good thing. For Shea Weber, it’s been an amazing thing. He has been in the news for all of the right reasons.
From the end of last season until well into the start of this season, many folks suggested that Shea Weber was already into the downward slide at the end of his career and should be traded. His season last year was a fairly significant drop-off from the year before. He was going to be 30 years old in August and would count $7 mil plus through 2020.
I wonder where those folks are now? The Predators certainly had a wealth of defensemen available but GM David Poile shipped young Seth Jones to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Ryan Johansen to kind of even that out. Shea Weber is more than just points to this team, he is the heart and soul.
His numbers this season almost match last seasons and there are still 17 games to go. He may not make the year he had two years ago but his points-per-game average of .65 is actually the second best he’s had in his 11 years of play. His goals-per-game average of .38 is the third best he’s ever had. Yeah, some drop-off. Here are his stats over the years:
Weber had a goal yesterday for his 17th of the season. It was Weber’s 163rd career goal, and that tied him with former Predators forward Martin Erat for second on the team’s all-time goal-scoring list. He recently beat former Predator Kimmo Timmonen for second on the Predators’ power-play points list. After starting the season with less, he is averaging nearly 27 minutes of Time on Ice per game recently. He is third all-time in scoring, first in plus/minus, first in shots…the list goes on.
As we mentioned, he is much more than his stats. He is the Captain. It was not a coincidence yesterday against Colorado that after Matt Duchene his Roman Josi in the head with a questionable no-call, Weber absolutely crushed Duchene behind the Predators net. Don’t mess with the Captain or his defensive linemate.
Since the All-Star game, here in Smashville, many folks came away talking about that amazing 108 mph Slapshot that Weber registered in the hardest shot competition. Earlier this week, he nearly maimed goaltender Kari Lehtonen of the Stars when a slapshot hit him right where it hurts the most. We have an article here about that.
Yesterday’s goal just added to the legend. The Avalanche took goaltender Calvin Pickard out for an extra attacker leaving an open net. Weber was able to get the puck at the point and hit another slapshot toward the net. With no goalie, a trio of Avs “thought” about trying to get in front of the shot. There was more ducking and fetal position that blocking though as the puck went in the net. Here it was from Mark Harris on Twitter:
These two #Avs are lucky to still have heads. Shea Weber blast. #Preds: pic.twitter.com/QFe7G87cl9
— Mark Harris (@itismarkharris) March 5, 2016
It was actually pretty hilarious and luckily for the Avs, no one got hurt. You could tell they thought twice before diving in front of that shot.
Next: Preds Are Already in the Playoffs
It seems like it is almost daily now that Shea Weber adds to his legend. More points and more records keep coming. He even mentioned that the records mean little to him right now, all he cares about is the playoffs. I’m sure glad we still have the Captain leading this team.