BROSSARD, Que. — About three weeks ago, when I first heard that Shea Weber had been playing for roughly a fortnight with a torn ligament in his left thumb — something that hasn’t been officially confirmed, but images recently on the Canadiens website (and then deleted) of him wearing a brace on that digit would suggest it’s more than plausible — two thoughts immediately came to mind.
The first was that he would do anything to avoid going under the knife until there were no games left to play. The second was that so long as he could hold a stick, nine fingers would still enable him to tattoo Toronto Maple Leafs players with that Bauer logo on it.
Uncorking that 110-mile-per-hour one-timer would’ve been in doubt before Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme reminded everyone on Tuesday that Weber scored with it in Calgary back on April 26, when that injury was likely causing him significantly more pain than it is now, over three weeks later.
"I’m expecting he’ll be able to shoot rather liberally," Ducharme said.
Weber proved it on Wednesday in his first full practice back with the Canadiens since re-emerging with the main group on Tuesday.
I’m expecting he’ll be able to move rather fluidly, too. At least much more so than he did during the torturous grind of the regular season (may it rest in peace and never be spoken of again).
Paul Byron, who recently returned from a 17-day lower-body-injury rehabilitation to play the final two games of the regular season, knows the value of rest. He feels that Weber having a lot of it of late is a godsend.
"You’re going to see a little bit of a new player," said Byron. "It’s crazy how different you can feel from not playing for three weeks; you’re so excited to play in the game and you’re not drained, not fatigued.
"I know Shea’s an incredible player. He’s a warrior, a competitor. He’s going to be ready to go. He’s our captain for a reason and he’s going to lead our ship."
No player in Montreal’s room commands as much respect and wields as much authority. The 35-year-old captain of the Canadiens is 1,038 games into a Hall of Fame-worthy career. He played another 75 in the post-season — putting up points in almost exactly half of them — and he’s led in all of them.
Weber was also a leader among leaders on two Olympic gold rushes, and on championship runs with Team Canada at both the world junior championship and the World Cup of Hockey.
Corey Perry, who played alongside Weber at all four events, has a keen understanding of what makes him so valuable in the games that matter most.
"He’s the guy that wants to be on the ice in every situation," Perry said. "He competes, he wants to win. He battles for that place on the ice and the room that you have on the ice. I know when that puck drops he’ll be ready and he’ll be anxious to get going again."
Weber will do it through pain — even if he said on Wednesday that he’s "100 per cent," and "ready to go."
That he doesn’t see that as anything outside of the norm tells you how tough, and how humble, he is, and toughness and humility are among the many traits that have him so revered by his teammates.
"I think a lot of guys play through pain," Weber said, downplaying the sacrifice that will go into him pushing himself through the discomfort that first forced him away from the game while the Canadiens were fighting tooth and nail to secure their place in the playoffs.
"It is what it is. It’s part of our job, and if you ask guys — especially in our schedule this year — I don’t think there’s a lot of guys who were ever 100 per-cent healthy. Definitely bumps and bruises throughout the year. (This opportunity) definitely means a lot, but I don’t think it’s anything special (to play through pain)."
His teammates disagree. Byron wasn’t the only one to call Weber a warrior for it. Last week, Brendan Gallagher said he’s one "in every sense of the word."
"He will battle through everything, he will compete every single night, he will make it very difficult to play against," Gallagher said, "and I can tell you for sure that when you ask a lot of guys in the league which D-man they want to go up against for seven straight games, I don’t think there’s a lot of guys that are going to pick Webs. It’s going to be physically taxing on every single player that has to play against him every single night, and he just brings it. That’s who he is."
Tyler Toffoli called Weber "a beast," and observed the Sicamous, B.C., native was as eager as a little kid at the prospect of finally shooting pucks again and engaging in battle drills at practice.
Weber’s excitement to start the playoffs against the Maple Leafs is even more palpable.
"Being back out there with the guys, it is like a little kid; you love this game so much and love being out there with your teammates and with the guys who you fought with all year," he said, "and now that we’re going into a playoff series, it’s even more exciting. So definitely fortunate to be back in this situation and I’m looking forward to (Thursday)."
There isn’t much sense Weber will be eased in by Ducharme.
Not that Weber’s jumping into his first action since April 28 and playing over 25 minutes through the first three periods of the series. He’s starting on a pair with Jon Merrill, which is reflective of the balance Ducharme is hoping to employ, with Joel Edmundson and Jeff Petry forming a pair and Ben Chiarot and Brett Kulak starting together.
"He’s such a pro. He’s a guy that takes care of himself, works out really hard, and is in great shape," said Ducharme. "So, we don’t want to overload any of our players and we’ll keep that in mind for Shea — especially the first game."
But the coach also said there will be situations that call for Weber’s reunion with Chiarot, and he hinted at the probability he’ll still lean heavily on him in the key matchups.
This is the time to do it, with the intensity of the games ramping up, with the whistles being pocketed enabling him to make those Bauer marks, and with his experience of rising to the occasion a known entity.
Weber knows what goes into winning. When we asked him to qualify it by espousing the traits of the many players on the Canadiens who have either hoisted the Cup or secured gold in international competition, he pointed to "the will, the want and the drive," of those athletes.
"All those guys you talked about are very gifted athletes," Weber said. "But at the end of the day, there’s a lot of gifted athletes out there and these ones are the ones who are driven to another level — and not just to be better personally, but to win and be the best as themselves and as a teammate as well."
That’s as close as you’ll ever get to Weber offering a comment about himself.
He’ll be ready for Game 1, thumb unbraced and nastiness unhinged.
