Shea Weber to La Belle Province. P.K. Subban to Music City. The Predators’ captain swapped for the Canadiens’ best player. Superstar for superstar, both at or approaching the peak of their careers. The type of deal you only see in fantasy leagues.
On Tuesday night, the teams meet in Bridgestone Arena for the first time since that trade. With Subban on injured reserve for at least the next two weeks with an upper-body injury that has sidelined him since Dec. 17, the spotlight will be solely on Weber.
The man whose 108 mph slappers, crunching body checks and quiet leadership became the face of one franchise will now face that team for the first time in his 12-year career. It will feel emotional and strange for everyone involved, Weber included.
“It will be weird for me to get ready for a game on that side of the arena for sure,” Weber said to the Canadiens’ website after practice Monday in suburban Brossard, Quebec. “It’s tough to say what I’m going to feel because I don’t know right now.”
Weber isn’t an emotional player by any means, but if the welcome home for former Nashville coach Barry Trotz in January 2015 is any indication, the expected tribute video during a first-period timeout might tug at Weber’s heartstrings.
When Trotz, the Predators’ coach for the first 16 years of their existence, brought Washington to town for the first time since his April 2014 departure, he was honored with a video that made him and many others look like they were chopping onions.
Nashville general manager David Poile elaborated on what Weber meant to the franchise during his 11 seasons.
“I believe he’s been the most important player in our franchise,” Poile said to NHL.com. “He did everything for us. I think it’s going to be emotional for so many people, including myself, to have him back in our building. He did it all. We miss him a lot.”
While Subban has played well at times with seven goals and 10 assists in 29 games before his injury, Weber has lifted Montreal to a 22-9-6 record with nine goals — eight on the power play — 12 assists and a plus-16 rating in 37 games.
But the Canadiens arrive in town fresh off an aggravating 4-3 overtime loss on Saturday night in Pittsburgh, where they hacked up a late lead and fell to 1-1-2 on a seven-game road trip.
Meanwhile, the Predators (16-14-6) are coming off one of their best games of the season, finishing 2016 with a 4-0 beating of St. Louis at Scottrade Center.
Rookie Juuse Saros stopped 25 shots for his first career shutout and Viktor Arvidsson capped a three-goal second period with a highlight-reel goal that featured speed and fancy puck-handling as he walked around Jay Bouwmeester.
Some of Weber’s former teammates were planning to meet him for dinner Monday night after Montreal arrives in town. Weber admits he has been receiving texts from them for a week, but that friendship ends when the puck drops Tuesday night.
“I’ve had a lot of good times there, for sure,” he said. “I made a lot of friends there. Those friendships endure now — we still stay in touch. But at the same time, we’ll have no friends out there tomorrow. We want to win the game, hopefully more than they do.”
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