BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Kevin Weekes (born April 4, 1975) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who most recently played for theNew Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is now a colour commentator on Hockey Night in Canada, and astudio analyst for NHL on the Fly.
Career
Player
Weekes' career began with the Owen Sound Platers of the Ontario Hockey League. He also had a brief stint with the Ottawa 67's.
Chosen 41st overall by the Florida Panthers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, he joined the team for the 1997–98 season, going 0–5–1 in 11 appearances for the Panthers. The following summer he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in a trade for Pavel Bureand compiled a 6–15–5 record in 31 appearances over a season and a half before being traded to the New York Islandershalfway through the 1999–2000 season. At the conclusion of that season he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he played until late in the 2001–02 season when he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes.
He played in a tandem with Arturs Irbe, helping lead the Hurricanes to the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals while recording two shutouts in the playoffs, establishing a Hurricanes team record.
He signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent prior to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, winning his first start with the Rangers on October 5, 2005, in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers. His time with the Rangers looked to be promising until an injury kept him out and he lost his number one spot to Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist came in to play in place of Weekes and played exceptionally well. Weekes remained in good spirits upon his healthy return to the team even though he had been bumped to the number two spot and back up to the rookie (Lundqvist). He became an unrestricted free agent following a less than stellar 2006–07 season. On July 5, 2007, he signed with the New Jersey Devils to serve as a backup to All-Star Martin Brodeur. In the 08-09 season, Brodeur suffered an injury which sidelined him for almost the entire season. This left Weekes and Scott Clemmensen battling for the number one spot. With the two battling, Weekes would again see himself in the playoffs with the team losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of the quarter finals.
Weekes announced his retirement from playing on September 27, 2009.[1]
Broadcasting
Weekes made history in 2009, when he became the first black analyst in hockey.[2] Weekes provides color commentary for NHL games on the NHL Network and Hockey Night in Canada. In The Hockey News 2011 edition of the 100 Most Powerful people in ice hockey, Weekes was considered one of the Top 40 under the age of 40.[3]
Personal
Weekes' parents emigrated from Barbados to Canada and went to Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute.
The reason that he sometimes wore jersey number 80 was he wanted to wear 00. However, the NHL does not allow a player to wear single or double zero jerseys. "Shady 80" chose the number that most closely resembled 00. Upon signing with the New Jersey Devils, as a result of the team's policy of wearing jerseys 1–40 with exception of marquee players, Weekes was given jersey number 1.[citation needed] Weekes wore 00 in junior hockey when he played for the Ottawa 67's.
Career statistics
| Season | League | GP | MIN | W | L | T/OTL | GA | SO | GAA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 11 | 485 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 32 | 0 | 3.96 |
| 1998–99 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 11 | 532 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 34 | 0 | 3.83 |
| 1999–2000 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 20 | 986 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 47 | 1 | 2.86 |
| 1999–2000 | New York Islanders | NHL | 36 | 2,025 | 10 | 20 | 4 | 115 | 1 | 3.41 |
| 2000–01 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 61 | 3,377 | 20 | 33 | 3 | 177 | 4 | 3.14 |
| 2001–02 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 19 | 829 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 40 | 2 | 2.89 |
| 2001–02 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 2 | 119 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1.50 |
| 2002–03 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 51 | 2,965 | 14 | 24 | 9 | 126 | 5 | 2.55 |
| 2003–04 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 66 | 3,764 | 23 | 30 | 11 | 146 | 6 | 2.33 |
| 2005–06 | New York Rangers | NHL | 32 | 1850 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 91 | 0 | 2.95 |
| 2006–07 | New York Rangers | NHL | 14 | 761 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 43 | 0 | 3.39 |
| 2007–08 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 9 | 343 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 2.97 |
| 2008–09 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 16 | 795 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 2.42 |
| NHL totals | 348 | 18,042 | 98 | 158 | 39 | 871 | 19 | 2.90 | ||
Transactions
- January 17, 1999 - Traded from the Florida Panthers with Dave Gagner, Ed Jovanovski, Mike Brown and conditional draft pick to the Vancouver Canucks for Pavel Bure, Bret Hedican, Brad Ference and conditional draft pick.
- December 19, 1999 - Traded from the Vancouver Canucks with Dave Scatchard and Bill Muckalt to the New York Islanders for Félix Potvin, 2nd round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (Teemu Laine) and 3rd pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (Thatcher Bell).
- June 24, 2000 - Traded from the New York Islanders with Kristian Kudroc and 2nd round pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft to the Tampa Bay Lightning for 1st round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (Raffi Torres), 4th round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (Vladimir Gorbunov) and 7th round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (Ryan Caldwell).
- March 5, 2002 - Traded from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Carolina Hurricanes for Chris Dingman and Shane Willis.
- August 26, 2004 - Signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent.
- July 5, 2007 - Signed with the New Jersey Devils as a free agent.
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