Canadiens have announced the next captain of their franchise!

The Montreal Canadiens have announced the next captain of their historic franchise.

Late last night I published a report following a big tease from Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin but to be honest with you I did not expect things to move so quickly after Bergevin dropped the hint. For those of you missed the earlier report, Bergevin was asked last night about the vacancy left in leadership by the departure of former Habs captain Max Pacioretty following an offseason trade to the Las Vegas Golden Knights. I would have fully expected Bergevin to dodge the question but instead he was very open about the fact that the Canadiens would in fact be naming someone to take over leadership of their locker room.

"There is a big possibility that we will have a captain this year," said Bergevin just hours before making the official announcement.

At the time I speculated on two possible candidates to wear the "C" next season, superstar goaltender Carey Price and veteran defenseman Shea Weber. Remove the fact that Price is a goaltender from the equation and he would have been the obvious pick for me but, considering the fact that he was passed over for what were, in my opinion, less deserving players, I didn't see Price ending up with the captaincy for the 2018 - 2019 National Hockey League regular season. Weber on the other hand seemed to make a great deal of sense given his position and his legacy as a player in the NHL thus far. 

Not only is Weber under contract for well into the foreseeable future but the man is a natural leader in every facet of the game. Weber's leadership has often been called upon during his career as a player with him being named captain of the Nashville Predators during his tenure in that organization as well as him taking on key leadership roles in international competitions. Weber had already worn the "A" as an alternate captain for the Canadiens for two seasons now and that seemed to make him primed to take over as leader of the Habs. 

Well it's now official, Shea Weber will be the next captain of the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens released a very short statement to commemorate the announcement, and to be honest I would have expected a little more fanfare from the organization on this one.

From the Canadiens official website:

 The Montreal Canadiens announced on Monday that defenseman Shea Weber has been appointed the 30th captain in franchise history. The decision was made by the club's hockey management. Weber is preparing for his 14th NHL season in 2018-19, his third with the Canadiens. He was an alternate captain in his first two seasons with Montreal.

The native of Sicamous, British Columbia, is the 25th Canadian-born player to captain the Canadiens, and the first since Vincent Damphousse (1996 - 1999). Weber is also the first defenseman since Chris Chelios (co-captain with Guy Carbonneau in 1989-90) to assume the team's captaincy, the 11th in team history.

It's obvious the Habs are trying to orchestrate a culture change based on their moves this summer, and naming Shea Weber your captain is a pretty good way to move in that direction as far as I'm concerned.