Taking the choice out of the player’s hands, the Montreal Canadiens chose to promote Shea Weber to become the 30th captain in franchise history.
Monday, October 1st was the beginning of NHL week. Why? Because the 2018-19 season is set to begin this upcoming Wednesday and all the hype is around that day. However, the Montreal Canadiens chose to give its fans something new to talk about, a new captain.
Shea Weber along with Marc Bergevin and Claude Julien appeared in front of the cameras that afternoon to express their thoughts on the veteran’s enhanced position.
Some thought the Habs would forgo naming a captain for the season. After Max Pacioretty was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, Bergevin put emphasis on the fact that the front office would take their time and not rush a decision. Even though it would’ve been odd for Montreal not to have a captain, it would’ve been understandable as well.
The team was coming off a rough season and perhaps letting a leader emerge themselves would’ve been the better option. However, the Habs chose to name one now, and Weber looks suited and fit to take on the role.
There is a difference though between this appointment and the last one leading to Pacioretty’s promotion. The decision to appoint Pacioretty was decided by the players through a vote, while Weber’s captaincy was a decision made by management. At the introduction presser, Bergevin expressed how a vote wasn’t necessary this time around saying:
"The choice was obvious. The players all feel the same way. We all feel the same way that Shea is the right guy to lead this team. We didn’t want to wait. Training camp is over, season starts on Wednesday. Today was the perfect day to make the announcement."
As you would expect, there was no ill-will from Brendan Gallagher who the fanbase thought would be a worthy candidate.
#Habs Gallagher isn’t upset he wasn’t named captain: “(Weber) is the perfect pick; he’s gonna do great at it. Anyone who’s disappointed with not being given an honour, you kinda question their personality a little bit.”
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNWpg) October 1, 2018
Like Weber, Gallagher is a player who brings his best every night and leads by example. The only difference being is the presence felt around the league. Weber is widely feared, appreciated and a name which automatically commands respect.
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It’s also important that Weber has been a captain before. The 33-year-old was named one of the assistant captains with the Nashville Predators in the 2009-10 season, the year before he was one of the assists on Canada’s World Hockey Championship team. One thing that stood out about Weber was his willingness to always stand up for his teammates. A stretch of fights towards the latter half of 2010 was a good indicator. If you laid a dirty hit on a Predator player, Weber would make sure you’d answer for it.
Nashville chose to make Weber the fifth and youngest captain in franchise history after former captain Jason Arnott was traded to New Jersey. He would hold the title for the next five seasons including wearing an A at the 2014 Olympics for Team Canada. To make things look better, Weber won the Mark Messier Leadership Award at the end of the 2015-16 season.
He’s qualified, there’s no doubt about that. And he has the demeanour and drive to properly lead the Montreal Canadiens both on and off the ice. The only downside of this is when the on-ice portion will occur. At least we know for sure that Weber will be around the team as much as possible. The BC native is already known to take proper measures to ensure his health and recovery regimes go well, but this should give him an extra boost to get back there.
Although I was a big proponent of Gallagher getting the C, management made the right decision. Weber played a mentoring role for Victor Mete last year and has actively gotten to know the new and young faces on the team, including Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Weber will see to it that the Montreal Canadiens are on their toes. There are always some unconscious doubts when a new captain is made. But for Weber, there’s nothing but positivity that goes along with the reveal.