It was time to announce the defensemen chosen to represent Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Six names had been read and the Nashville Predators’ All-Star defenseman was not one of them. With Pekka Rinne’s exclusion from the Finland roster fresh in their minds, Preds fans everywhere started to wonder if members of their team had been shafted yet again.
Oh there it is. Crisis averted everyone. Go on about your business.
Weber, as you can see, is in select company and will have the honor of playing for his country in British Columbia come February.
Weber’s defense partner Ryan Suter is a front runner for a roster spot on Team USA, set to be announced during the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.
If Suter is named to the American team, he’ll be the seventh Nashville Predator to be named to an Olympic squad. Roman Josi (Switzerland), Marcel Goc (Germany), Alexander Sulzer (Germany), Martin Erat (Czech Republic), Patric Hornqvist (Sweden) and Weber (Canada) are the others. If you count Alexander Radulov (his rights are owned by the Preds after all), Suter’s selection to Team USA would make eight.