The new Swiss kid
Sept 29, 2008 7:13:50 GMT -5
Post by franko on Sept 29, 2008 7:13:50 GMT -5
The new Swiss kid
Weber is filling the shoes of ex-Habs countrymen Aebischer and Streit
DAVE STUBBS, The Gazette
The hapless batter, in the lore of early 20th-century New York Giants flame-throwing pitcher Christy Mathewson, had just heard the thump of the leather catcher's mitt and the bellow of "Steee-rike!"
Lumber still on his shoulder, he grumbled: "You sure about that, ump? It sounded high to me."
So might have been the reaction Friday night of Ottawa Senators goaltender Alex Auld when the Bell Centre crowd erupted, the red light warming the back of his neck.
"That's kind of my weapon," Canadiens defence prospect Yannick Weber said, having lasered the puck nearly through the mesh behind Auld. "Last season at Kitchener, most of my goals were like that on the power play or from the point."
Weber had taken a pass from Canadiens winger Andrei Kostitsyn and had the luxury of maybe two seconds to tee it up a few strides inside the Ottawa blueline.
His slap shot, through a forest of bodies, might have been near the 99.2-miles-per-hour blast that won him the Ontario Hockey League's hardest shot in last season's OHL All-Star Game skills contest.
Weber had a shot on goal in Halifax on Sept. 22 and a couple more on his 20th birthday in Roberval the following night, but he couldn't click. On Friday, on the first of his three, he did. Loudly.
Then came another goal last night - a 25-foot power-play wrist shot seared over the stick-side shoulder of Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun as he broke in alone, fed by Tomas Plekanec.
"It was my first game in Montreal and my first opportunity to shoot," he said, beaming after Friday's ice-breaker. "I just let it rip and hoped it was going in. Picking the corner was pretty good, like a little birthday present."
Six weeks to the day after he'd signed a three-year contract with the Canadiens.
Weber is one of 15 defencemen that Montreal has in camp, last alphabetically but considerably higher based on performance. He's likely headed today to Newfoundland for the training camp of the American Hockey League's Hamilton Bulldogs, with seven NHL-established rearguards on the Canadiens roster.
But the 5-foot-10, 194-pound native of Zurich has given the Canadiens much food for thought in his four games to date.
"He'll fight for a job here," the club's director of recruitment, Trevor Timmins, said during rookie camp.
"Yannick will add some offence (in Hamilton) for us. He's really developed. Physically, he's filled out, and while he doesn't have a lot of height, he has a lot of strength. He's a good player. He'll be able to move the puck up quickly to our young forwards in Hamilton."
The Canadiens selected Weber in the third round, 73rd overall, in the 2007 entry draft. They liked his quick feet and good mobility; those were qualities highlighted by NHL central scouting, along with a strong passing ability and heavy shot from the point, which had him ranked 53rd among North American skaters.
Weber had arrived in Canada two autumns ago, 2005-06 rookie of the year with the Swiss B-League's SC Langenthal and captain of his country's under-18 team a year earlier.
He enjoyed two solid years with the OHL's Kitchener Rangers, scoring 13 goals and getting 21 assists in 51 games in 2006-07, improving to 20 and 35 in 59 games last season while also being captain of his country at the world junior championship.
Weber had grown up a fan of Chris Chelios and Paul Coffey, NHL blue-line legends "whose hockey cards you'd collect and who you'd know from the video games."
But it was the New York Islanders' Mark Streit, who played three years in Montreal after being drafted by the Canadiens at age 26 in 2004, who remains his most important role model. Streit showed Swiss players that the NHL is an achievable dream.
"You wouldn't even talk about that dream," Weber said. "But once Streit made it, everyone was like, 'Oh yeah, it could be possible.' "
For his Bell Centre games Friday and last night, he occupied the dressing-room stall Streit had used. Across the room and to the left had sat Swiss goalie David Aebischer in 2006-07.
"Montreal is the team to cheer for in Switzerland," Weber said. "It's always good if you're from Switzerland and you play here. Most Swiss guys were sad that Streit left Montreal. They really like the city and the way he was treated here."
Training together back home during the summer, Streit had a few words of wisdom for a Canadiens prospect in whom he might have seen a little of himself.
"Mark told me to make the best of the ice I get, as he had," Weber said. "He said that the Canadiens believed in him, saw that he could play forward, and gave him time on the power-play point.
"He made the best of it and look where he is now - in New York with a good contract (five years, $20.5 million). Mark tried his best when he was on the ice here and I think that's why he was appreciated."
The Canadiens had been keeping a close eye on Weber, who took the big leap by crossing the pond to learn North American systems and adapt to an elite-level hockey lifestyle with major- junior Kitchener.
They agreed to talk seriously after the Memorial Cup in May, in which the Rangers fell to Spokane in the final, and inked a contract on Aug. 15, 14 months after they'd drafted him in Columbus.
"Signing didn't change my life," he said, "except you know where you're going to be for the next three years. Once I was signed by Montreal, I knew the organization wanted to build me and have me play here one day. It's good to see they believe in me.
"I'm part of it now. They are following my life and they're going to watch me whatever I do."
In that regard, the Canadiens are not alone. The roar of Friday's Bell Centre crowd was echoed half a world away, where in Switzerland eager kids with a dream were watching one of their own move a pretty, top-shelf goal nearer the NHL.
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