Rocket:

I’m pleased to introduce an article about Canadiens rookie defenseman Yannick Weber appearing exclusively on All Habs by guest writer Swiss Chris. You can read more by Swiss Chris on his superb website: http://swisshockey.net/

Meet Yannick Weber
by Swiss Chris

What can we tell you about Yannick Weber? Beyond the basics (size, weight, date of birth, etc.) you can look up yourself?
Unfortunately we don’t know Weber personally. Switzerland is a small country, but it’s not that small. Nevertheless, being as intimately familiar with the country as we are, we can lend some insight. So here goes:

Weber was born in a little town called Morges, near Lausanne in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. He grew up in Berne, Switzerland’s capital city. After hearing an interview with him, it sounds like German is definitely his first language, though he could also be perfectly bilingual (French-German). Many Swiss people are. Expect him to at the very least speak French passably, which should endear him to the Francophone press–at least initially. (As a quick aside: Former Hab Mark Streit’s home canton is also Berne.)

But enough with the ethnography. What about his hockey DNA? Weber came through the ranks at SC Bern’s highly-rated youth program. He started playing hockey at age 7, winning the junior national championship at age 16. He made his debut with the first team at age 17 in 2006. Previously he played for an affiliate club in Switzerland’s second division. He was the youngest Swiss player at the 2005 World Juniors in Vancouver, when he first caught the eye of current Florida Panthers coach Peter DeBoer, at the time in charge of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. DeBoer and the Rangers drafted Weber to the team the following year. He joined them that fall and later was named assistant captain by DeBoer, who was impressed with his maturity. DeBoer has compared Weber to Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell.

Speaking of the Blackhawks, Weber has named them as his favorite NHL team, with Chris Chelios his favorite player. But don’t hold that against him.

Weber is obviously skilled at producing points, having 41 in 51 games for Kitchener last season. He also led all defensemen in points as captain of the Swiss team at the U-20 world championship in 2007. His slapshot is his greatest weapon, which is why you saw him at the point of the Habs powerplay the other night. But he knows he needs to improve defensively to have a chance at becoming a regular contributor in the NHL. Will he be able to do it? I think so, though I’m admittedly biased. Players like Streit and Luca Sbisa at Philadelphia have proven that Swiss players can make it as something other than goaltenders (you know about David Aebischer of course but we also have Jonas Hiller in Anaheim, Martin Gerber in Ottawa and Tobias Stephan in Dallas). I think their solid fundamentals, discipline and maturity (which comes from playing with grown men as teenagers back home) gives them the “soft skills” necessary to do it. (Can they be wingers and centers? That’s another topic for another day).

The only concern is that in Montreal Weber will be thrust into the limelight and scrutinized to a far stronger degree than he would nearly anywhere else. Remember that Streit was a lot older when he came to the NHL. Weber looked really nervous in his debut, though that is of course to be expected of anybody (and using him at forward as Carbo did was, uh, a little unconventional). Just don’t be too harsh on him at first, ok? :)