Tavares spent the first two years of his NHL career living with Weight after being selected first overall by the New York Islanders in 2009.
Tavares spent the first two years of his NHL career living with Weight after being selected first overall by the New York Islanders in 2009.
When Doug Weight looks back on having a young John Tavares live with him, he just laughs.
The former New York Islanders forward, head coach, and assistant general manager joined TSN's Mark Masters on Monday and uncovered what what it was like to live with Tavares while he was just entering the NHL with the New York Islanders.
Weight said it was great to have Tavares there, until the rookie crashed his car.
"I think the first year was Matty Molson and Johnny living in the guest house in our house," Weight told Masters. "And after that, Matty moved on and John stayed and it was just a great relationship.
"It was fun, until he crashed my Range Rover. I wasn't too happy with that, but I got over it."
Masters followed up with asking when it happened, and Weight couldn't help but smile while explaining the tale.
"Well, it's an amazing story about John because he's such a great athlete. Lacrosse, his hands on the ice, he's just phenomenal with the puck and he didn't get out of the driveway. So it was a rough one. And it's not a small driveway.
"So, [Tavares] came in, and in his innocent, 'Dougie, sorry.' I said, 'What?' 'I just ran into the tree.' [Tavares said] I'm like, 'What tree? How can you hit a tree?' So, rough beginning," Weight said with a smile.
Now the captain of the Maple Leafs, Tavares brings rookies into his own home, just like Weight did with him years ago. At the beginning of this season, Tavares welcomed in both Matthew Knies and Fraser Minten as they got used to life in the NHL.
"John takes care of us really nice at his house," Minten said ahead of the Maple Leafs' Oct. 16 matchup vs. the Chicago Blackhawks.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ympBUGIoghU[/embed]
But—because of Weight's generosity—it taught the Maple Leafs captain how to help acclimate players who are entering the NHL for the first time.
"For me to come full circle in a way it’s great," Tavares said. "And for Fraser, just trying to figure out his living situation and getting him out of the hotel and he and Kniesy have really kicked it off playing together and spending time with one another and my boys love it."
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