Predators salute Shea Weber in return to Nashville (Video)
The Nashville Predators saluted former captain Shea Weber with a touching video tribute during the first TV timeout of Weber’s first game against his former team.
The montage started with assistant general manager Paul Fenton announcing the Predators had selected the defenseman in the 2003 Draft. It then showed many of Weber’s greatest achievements on the ice, but also had a lot of Weber’s best off-ice moments, such as dressing as Tigger the Tiger for a hospital visit.
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It showed a cancer survivor Trace Kimler thanking Weber for the defenseman’s generosity and kindness as well Mark McGuire from the Best Buddies program praising Weber for being his “best friend in the whole world.”
During the video the fans at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena stood on their feet and cheered for Weber and he acknowledged the crowd.
Here is another angle of how the tribute looked from inside the arena:
As play resumed the fans chanted “thank you Weber.”
Said Weber of the tribute, “It meant a lot. It was special to be back in this building.”
Weber scored a third period goal to tie the game in his team’s come-from-behind 2-1 overtime win.
“It feels good to win, so whether it is scoring goal or blocking a shot, I just happened to score a goal. It was big,” Weber said. “We played a solid road game tonight. We didn’t give them much.”
Alexander Radulov, another former Predators player, assisted on Max Pacioretty’s game-winner as well as Weber’s goal. Radulov, who was drafted by the Predators in 2004 and left them twice for the KHL, was booed all night by the sellout crowd. This was also Radulov’s first game against his former team.
“It’s just a game. I can’t really control that. They are the fans, they are buying the tickets, and they’re allowed to do whatever they want,” Radulov said. “The team played good. We played solid I think all of the three periods.”
Last June Weber, the team’s captain from the 2010-11 season through 2015-16 and franchise leader amongst defensemen in points, was traded to the Canadiens for P.K. Subban.
“I’m not going to lie — there’s probably going to be a lot of emotion,” the 31-year-old Weber said in a recent story in The Tennessean about his return to Nashville. “I’m human. I spent a lot of time there. I put a lot of hard work and effort into everything I did there. Obviously built a lot of friendships and relationships even outside of the game with people there.”
Subban did not play and is currently out for the next two-to-three weeks with an upper-body injury.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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