Position Goaltender Role Ice hockey player Career end 2009 Name Kevin Weekes Career start 1997 | Playing career Weight 98 kg Caught Left Height 1.85 m Spouse Stephanie Weekes | |
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Born April 4, 1975 (age 48)
Toronto, ON, CAN ( 1975-04-04 ) Played for New Jersey Devils
New York Rangers
Carolina Hurricanes
Tampa Bay Lightning
New York Islanders
Vancouver Canucks
Florida Panthers NHL Draft 41st overall, 1993
Florida Panthers Similar People John Hynes, Bryce Salvador, Lou Lamoriello, Patrik Elias, Kevin Weeks Profiles | ||
NHL Goalie vs. Regular People | Kevin Weekes
Kevin Weekes (born April 4, 1975) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who most recently played for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is now a studio analyst for NHL Networks' On the Fly and NHL Tonight.
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Weekes was born in Toronto, Ontario, and grew up in Scarborough, Ontario.
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 Bure and compiled a 6–15–5 record in 31 appearances over a season and a half before being traded to the New York Islanders halfway 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.
2002 Playoff run with the Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes acquired Weekes on March 5, 2002 for Chris Dingman and Shane Willis. Weekes essentially served as a backup to Arturs Irbe during the remainder of the regular season, only playing in two of the final seventeen games for the Hurricanes. During the playoffs, Weekes played an important part in the Hurricanes run to the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals. Weekes played in eight games during the 2002 playoffs including relieving Irbe to finish out a game four loss in the first round series against the New Jersey Devils and starting in goal during the critical games five and six of the first round series. The Hurricanes won the series against the Devils 4-2. Weekes also started games one, two and three of the second round against the Montreal Canadiens before being replaced by Irbe. During the playoffs, Weekes recorded back to back shutouts, with a 32 save shutout in game six of the first round against the New Jersey Devils and a 25 save shutout in game one of the second round against the Montreal Canadiens.
Weekes was the primary goalie for the Hurricanes during the 2002-03 season playing in 51 games and compiling a 14-24-9 record and was the primary goalie for the Hurricanes in 2003-04 playing in 66 games compiling a 23-30-11 record.
Weekes signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent prior to the 2004–05 NHL lock-out, 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.
Broadcasting
Weekes made history in 2009, when he became the first black analyst in hockey. Weekes provides colour 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.
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 former general manager Lou Lamoriello's policy of wearing jerseys 1–40 with exception of marquee players, Weekes was given jersey number 1. Weekes wore 00 in junior hockey when he played for the Ottawa 67's.