Do you want to know if the management of the Canadian had to force the hand of Shea Weber to attend the tributes that will be paid to Guy Lafleur in the coming days?
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I ask the question because people have deplored Weber’s absence from the pre-game ceremonies held in Lafleur’s honor during the game between the Habs and the Bruins last Sunday at the Bell Centre.
For these people, it was unworthy of a captain.
Everyone has their own way of seeing things, but in my own book, Weber is no longer captain of the Canadiens. Unless he is blessed with a miraculous cure, he is retired.
Unofficially, you might say, but he played his last game in the National League.
Toews and Pronger
General rule: A long-term injured player avoids standing in the entourage of his team. It’s as if he felt useless.
Last year, Jonathan Toews, captain of the Chicago Blackhawks, missed the entire season due to a mysterious illness. He remained incognito all year.
It was only at the end of last June that he announced that he had been struck down by a form of virus which had made him lethargic.
In 2013, when he was in the fourth season of a seven-year contract, Chris Pronger, who was captain of the Philadelphia Flyers, hung up his skates because he was not recovering from an injury to a eye.
The following season, Claude Giroux succeeded him in the role of captain. That may be where the Canadiens fell short in Weber’s case. On the other hand, who could have worn the C this season?
Let’s think about Guy
Weber made mistakes. Like the time he refused to talk to Montreal journalists during the Canadian’s visit to Vancouver.
But you shouldn’t make up stories when there aren’t any. And, above all, why want to break sugar on the back of Weber when we mourn Guy Lafleur?
Let’s be respectful to Guy.