Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Congratulations to Shea Weber on His First NHL All Star Team Selection


The Nashville Predators top defensemen, Shea Weber was named to the NHL Western Conference All Star team on Wednesday.

The 6’4’, 230 pound Weber has been having a break out season and is a contender for this year’s Norris trophy which goes to the leagues best defenseman. Currently, he is ranked fifth in scoring among defensemen with 28 points. He has scored a league leading 12 goals (among D-men) and has added 16 assists. Weber also leads the Predators in Plus/ Minus with a +8 Rating.

Weber, who is 23, was originally drafted 49th overall by the Predators in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, which was held in Nashville. This was the same draft that included current teammates Ryan Suter and Kevin Klein. Weber spent his first two years as a Predator prospect in the Western Hockey League playing for the Kelowna Rockets. In 2005, he led the Rockets to their second championship in three seasons. He was also named the MVP of the 2005 WHL playoffs and was the runner-up for the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy which is given to the league’s best defense man. Weber, who hails from Sicamous, BC, also played for Team Canada in the 2005 World Junior Championship that took Gold in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The following season, Weber started the season with Milwaukee in the American Hockey League and on January 6th, 2006, he appeared in his first NHL game playing against the Detroit Red Wings. He also made his first NHL play off appearance in 2006, playing in four games and scoring two goals.

Over the last three seasons with the Predators Weber has grown and matured into one of the NHL's best defenseman.

This year’s NHL All Star game will be held on January 25th in Montreal as part of their 100 years of hockey year long celebration.

Jackson Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

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