Sicamous native Shea Weber is getting a 鈥楥鈥� stitched onto his Montreal Canadiens jersey.

The 33-year-old defenceman was an alternate captain with the NHL club for his first two seasons in Montreal after being traded from the Nashville Predators in 2016.

Weber replaces former captain Max Pacioretty, who was traded to the Las Vegas Golden Knights over the summer. Weber鈥檚 alternate captains will be Paul Byron and Brendan Gallagher, who joined a chorus of their fellow teammates in praising management鈥檚 decision on the new captain.

鈥淚鈥檓 happy for him. He was my choice. He鈥檚 the best guy I鈥檝e played with. He鈥檚 a very good leader. The list is so long to describe everything that he represents,鈥� Byron said.

鈥淎 lot of guys in the room call him 鈥楧ad,鈥� for what he can bring and what he represents for this team. There鈥檚 no doubt that he was the logical choice,鈥� Gallagher added.

Weber is the 25th Canadian-born player to captain the Habs, but every captain since Vincent Damphousse who wore the 鈥楥鈥� in the late 鈥�90s has been born elsewhere.

鈥淚t鈥檚 truly an honour to be named the Montreal Canadiens鈥� captain. It鈥檚 a special day for me and I鈥檓 excited to be part of the tradition and history going forward and I look forward to getting back,鈥� Weber said in a video published to the Canadiens鈥� Twitter account.

Weber will be wearing the 鈥楥鈥� as the Canadiens take to the ice for their first regular season game in Toronto on Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. Eastern time.

jim.elliot@saobserver.net
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