There were some major news yesterday concerning the Montreal Canadiens, and I don’t mean Luke Richardson’s three-year extension as an assistant coach.
I mean the news regarding captain Shea Weber’s health. It was announced he had been playing through three injuries, which could be career-ending.
Most of the hockey world was aware of his thumb injury after the Canadiens released a video of the team getting their COVID-19 vaccines, which also showed Weber with a thumb brace.
However, nobody (outside the team) knew that he was also dealing with knee and foot/ankle injuries.
According to TVA Sports Hockey Reporter Renaud Lavoie, medical evaluations yesterday showed that Weber might need surgery and could potentially miss all of next season (or more).
I’m hearing the @CanadiensMTL won't protect Shea Weber for the expansion draft. Following the latest medical evaluations, he could miss all of next season. If not more.
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) July 14, 2021
All we can do as we wait and hope to see the captain on the ice again, is wish him a full and speedy recovery.
As for any potential replacements, there is no question about all the leadership this Canadiens team has, from Brendan Gallagher and Carey Price being leaders for this team for almost a decade to Corey Perry, who the players all look up to, and who has shown his love for the team and city.
However, there is no doubt that if – and that’s a big if – the team were to need a new captain, Gallagher would be the one to step up.
While Gallagher and Weber might have different personalities, it’s easy to see how similar they are when it comes to leadership. After watching them for so many years, they both have amazing qualities needed in a captain, and although Gallagher was learning these qualities before Weber joined the Canadiens in 2016, there is no doubt that he has learned a lot from him as well.
But these are all just speculations for the moment. There are different possible scenarios: Weber being placed on LTIR, him retiring, or being taken by Seattle.
The offseason has only just begun, so we can expect more news to keep coming out every day, though let’s hope none are like these.
Looking back at the last game of the Stanley Cup Final, it now makes more sense as to why all the players hugged their captain one by one after being eliminated. This could have been his last game in a while, if not ever.