Peter Laviolette's Not Surprised About Shea Weber's Induction into the Hall of Fame
NHL defenseman Shea Weber may have had his contract passed around like a hot potato, but his time in the league was legendary.
Peter Laviolette saw Shea Weber's genius in Nashville when he had the pleasure of coaching him.
He could tell that Weber was one of the best defensemen he's been able to coach, and began his coaching career in Nashville during the 2014 season.
He replaced Barry Trotz and would stay in Nashville up until he took the team to the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
This wasn't Laviolette's only example of being a successful coach in the league.
Weber was a key part of those Predators lineups that Lavvy led, as his career in Nashville ended in 2015-2016.
Webet unfortunately never saw a Stanley Cup win during his career in the NHL career, but he saw 9 years of postseason play in Montreal, and Nashville. His last shot at a Stanley Cup saw him take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021 for a Cup, only to lose.
It was no shock to Laviolette that Weber was a first ballot Hall of Famer.
«I was fortunate to coach him, fortunate to be a part of that so that doesn't surprise me,» Laviolette said.
Weber will be in the same class of the Hockey Hall of Fame as Pavel Datsyuk, Jeremy Roenick, Natalie Darwitz, Krissy Wendell-Pohl, Colin Campbell, and former Predators GM himself David Poile.
Shea Weber was drafted 49th overall in the stacked 2003 NHL entry draft by the Nashville Predators.
He began his career in the NHL with the Predators in 2005 and would play 1,038 total NHL games before injuries ended it.
