Shea Weber

Heading into the Draft, he was ranked 42nd among North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau and 54th overall by International Scouting Services.

Shea Michael Weber (born August 14, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman under contract with the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He played sixteen seasons in the NHL for the Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadiens.

Weber was born on August 14, 1985, in Sicamous, British Columbia.

His mother, Tracy, was a hairdresser, and his father, James Weber, a sawmill worker.

Weber first played organized ice hockey at age six.

Growing up, he played in the Sicamous and District Minor Hockey Association, a division of the British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association (BCAHA), often switching between forward and defenceman positions.

In Weber's second year of bantam, he permanently switched to defence.

He credits his father for convincing him to make the switch because he thought Weber would "have a better shot at a pro career as a defenceman".

Between the ages of fourteen and fifteen, Weber grew 5 inches, from 5-foot-9 (1.75 metres) to 6-foot-2 (1.88 metres).

Weber went unselected in his Western Hockey League (WHL) Bantam Draft year, but was placed by the Kelowna Rockets on their protected-players list during his second season of bantam.

At the end of the season, he moved up to junior "B" ice hockey with his hometown Sicamous Eagles of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL).

Weber's 42 points in 47 games played helped his team to a near-perfect season of 43–5–1–1, winning both the British Columbian Cyclone Taylor Cup KIJHL league championship and the Western Canadian Keystone Cup.

In the Keystone Cup championship game, Weber scored the Eagles' first goal of the game in a 2–1 victory over the Spruce Grove Regals.

In addition to his championship run with the Eagles, Weber played in five games for the Kelowna Rockets during their 2001–02 WHL season.

The following season Weber began his rookie season with the Rockets.

Early into the campaign, Weber established a physical presence, often fighting opposing players.

Overall, he had 167 penalty minutes that season, the most in his entire playing career.

Offensively, Weber finished his rookie season with eighteen points in seventy games played.

He also scored 5 points in 19 playoff games as the Rockets won the franchise's first Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions, defeating the Red Deer Rebels in the finals.

Drafted in the second round, 49th overall, by the Predators in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Weber spent eleven seasons in Nashville until being traded to Montreal in 2016.

He previously played for the Sicamous Eagles of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL), the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL), and the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL).

As WHL champions, the Rockets represented the WHL at the 2003 Memorial Cup in Quebec City, Quebec, where they were defeated by the Hull Olympiques 2–1 in the semi-final.

At the completion of his rookie WHL season, Weber was eligible to be drafted into the National Hockey League (NHL) at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

On June 21, 2003, he was drafted in the second round, 49th overall, by the Nashville Predators.

In his second season with the Rockets, Weber was named to the WHL roster for the 2004 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge in Red Deer and Lethbridge, Alberta.

In the two games played, he recorded one assist.

At the completion of the regular season, Weber had improved his offensive statistics from the previous season, recording 32 points in 60 games.

Weber was named the WHL player of the week for April 6–12, 2004, after recording one goal and six assists in four Kelowna wins over the Tri-City Americans as the Rockets eliminated the Americans four games to two in the Western Conference semi-finals.

He finished the WHL playoffs with 17 points in 17 games as the Rockets were eliminated four games to three by the Everett Silvertips in the Western Conference finals.

Despite being eliminated from the WHL playoffs, the Rockets advanced to their second consecutive Memorial Cup as the host team.

At the 2004 Memorial Cup, Weber was named to the tournament all-star team after recording four points in four games played as the Rockets defeated the Gatineau Olympiques 2–1 in the championship game to win their first Memorial Cup.

At the completion of the season, Weber was named to the WHL Western Conference's second all-star team.

Weber's final season with the Rockets proved to be his best with the team, despite a late season injury.

Weber has represented Canada at a number of International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)-sanctioned events, winning a World Junior Ice Hockey Championship gold medal in 2005, an Ice Hockey World Championships gold medal in 2007, and two Olympic gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.

On March 5, 2005, he injured his left knee after colliding with Vancouver Giants left winger Cam Cunning.

The injury resulted in Weber missing the remainder of the regular season and the Rockets' Western Conference quarter-finals series against the Vancouver Giants.

Despite the injury, Weber finished the regular season with WHL career bests for goals (12), assists (29) and points (41) in 55 games played.

After returning from injury, Weber scored 9 goals and 17 points in 18 playoff games as the Rockets won the Ed Chynoweth Cup en route to their third consecutive Memorial Cup.

For his efforts, he was awarded the airBC Trophy as the most valuable player of the WHL playoffs.