Canadiens: How Former Captain Became the Man Mountain
Remember 2014 in Sochi? While Canadiens' Carey Price shone brightly, so did a Canadiens to be...
© Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports - Canadiens: How Former Captain Became the Man MountainMike Babcock has coached a lot of great teams in professional hockey over the years, but the one he was at the helm of in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi must be among the best. On top of having multiple offensive weapons up front, faceoff wizard Patrice Bergeron and goaltending great Carey Price in net, he had one of the best blueline patrol ever assembled.
Drew Doughty, Duncan Keith, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Jay Bouwmeester, Alex Pietrangelo, Dan Hamhuis, P.K. Subban and Shea Weber were all at his disposal and he deployed them perfectly.
As brilliant as Canada's offense looked on paper, when all was said and done, two of the first three scorers on the team were defensemen. Doughty led the way with six points in as many games with forward Jeff Carter and Weber following him on five points a piece.
The Nashville Predators' captain at the time scored two goals in as many games to start his tournament, but it was his third goal that proved crucial. Against a surprisingly resilient Latvian team, Canada was held to a draw until the 53rd minute when Weber was able to break the deadlock.
Weber also picked up an assist on the gold medal-winning goal, but the rugged defenseman is more than points from the blueline. A force to be reckoned with in his own zone in his prime, he had no equal to clear the front of the net or the land bone crushing hits on unsuspecting forwards.
Weber wasn't named best defenseman of the tournament nor was he on the competition's all-star team, but without his contribution Canada might not have been able to defend the Olympic title it had won in Vancouver back in 2010.
His physical play was so impressive that when Babcock was asked about him during the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, the bench boss labelled him a "Man Mountain" which remains one of the most deserved nicknames in hockey history to this day.
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