Montreal Canadiens’ captain Shea Weber still hasn’t made his debut this season, recovering from an arthroscopic procedure that he underwent on his right knee in July. While the initial prognosis said that Weber would be out until late December, now it seems like the 33-year-old defenseman is recovering faster than expected and could return to the ice next week.
Canadiens’ coach Claude Julien spoke with reporters after practice on Thursday and said that Weber might play next Tuesday in the game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
“I think the way things are going right now if everything continues to go in the right direction, I think the medical staff and everybody feels that Tuesday could be a possibility for Shea to come back,” – said Julien. “But definitely not on the weekend. This is his first week with some contact and after being out for a year; he needs to spend that whole week doing certain things. So that’s the direction we’re going, and again, that’s as long as things keep going in the right direction, which so far it has been.”
Montreal Canadiens have a solid 11-7-4 record this season, but they have lost two of their last games, so Weber’s veteran presence and experience will definitely help them up to get back on the winning way.
Shea Weber spent most of his time in NHL with Nashville Predators, and it was believed he would finish his career there. Predators had other ideas, and ended up trading him to the Canadiens in exchange for P. K. Subban in 2016. Webber had a successful first season with the team, contributing 17 goals and 42 points overall while earning his third consecutive All-Star appearance. His second season with the organization, however, was marked with injuries and he ended up playing only 26 games.
Webber played a total of 867 games in NHL, in which he scored 189 goals and provided 312 assists.
