For
Corey Perry, it started innocently enough. A friendly competition. A motivational boost. The objective: Beat the
Canadiens captain to practice. The problem? Beating
Shea Weber at anything is exceedingly difficult.
Over the course of the 2020-21 season — Perry’s only campaign in Montreal and, as of now, the last season in which Weber played a game — he jockeyed for position, showing up at the Canadiens’ practice facility in Brossard or the Bell Centre earlier and earlier.
Eventually, they were routinely getting to the rink a full three hours before they had to take the ice — sometimes as early as 7:30 a.m. Caffeine was necessary.
“I couldn’t beat him to the arena. I tried,” Perry said, laughing. “He’s just always one of the first guys there, one of the last guys to leave. He’s always hanging around the younger guys, the older guys. Everybody just gravitates toward him. When you have a guy like that on your team that’s leading by example and doing all the right things, that’s the ‘ultimate pro’ to me.”
The Canadiens’ run to the Stanley Cup Final that year was arguably the highlight of Weber’s NHL career. Until then, he had never been on a team that made it past the second round of the playoffs. That year, he fought through injuries, averaging 22:42 of ice time per game in the pandemic-shortened season — the fourth-lowest of his career.
But he suited up for all 22 Canadiens playoff games, averaged 25 minutes, 13 seconds of ice time per game and, even in a somewhat diminished form, he was still his usual nasty, physically imposing, two-way presence.
After the playoffs, it was reported Weber’s career was in jeopardy with lingering knee, foot and ankle injuries. During the playoffs, he wore a brace on his left hand.