Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
It may be a very long time before hockey fans see Shea Weber suit up in an NHL game again.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday afternoon following the Canadiens’ 0-4 start to the season, general manager Marc Bergevin delivered an update on his captain’s injury status, revealing that he thinks it would be a “long shot” for Weber to ever play again.
Bergevin additionally confirmed that Weber would miss the entire 2021-22 season.
It’s not the news Canadiens’ fans or hockey fans, in general, wanted to hear. Weber was still one of the better defenders in the NHL last season, racking up 19 points in 48 games in the pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign before helping lead the Canadiens to a surprise appearance in the Stanley Cup Final.
Alas, foot and ankle injuries that had ailed Weber for years grew worse over the course of that run. And, following the Canadiens’ defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning, it was revealed that Weber would be out indefinitely, with the likelihood that he would never play again.
Today, Bergevin took another step towards confirming those fears.
Here’s hoping that Weber can heal so his life beyond hockey is as fulfilling as his life in it.
