SUNRISE, Fla. – Mike Weaver embraces his less traveled path to the National Hockey League as a rewarding one. After 11 years, the journey has paid dividends.
The Panthers inked their top defensive defenseman to a two-year contract extension on Dec. 30, ensuring Weaver won’t spend the next couple summers as he had been – looking for a job.
“I think that’s a real settling thing for him and his family,” coach Kevin Dineen said. “I think stability is a great thing in our world.”
Weaver’s career has been nothing short of transient. He chose to pursue a college degree instead of playing major junior hockey. Undrafted as an 18-year-old, the 5-foot-9 defenseman had to play for a contract nearly every year of his professional career.
To put Weaver’s situation into perspective, entering this season, he had signed more contracts (seven) than he had scored NHL goals (six).
“It’s nice to know the organization is behind me. It’s nice to get recognized,” he said. “I am glad it is over and done with, and now I can focus on hockey. I am still going to do the same thing I’ve always done, keep battling and keeping it simple.
“It’s amazing it goes by so quick, in a blink of an eye.”
A seventh-round pick of the Guelph Storm in 1995, Weaver declined the opportunity to play in the Ontario Hockey League to maintain his NCAA eligibility. He played out his junior career in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League with the Thornhill Islanders and Bramalea Blues.
As Bramalea’s team captain during his final junior season, Weaver averaged just over a point per game and led the league with a plus-62 rating to capture best defenseman honors. In the spring, he led his teammates to a Dudley Hewitt Cup championship.
Weaver’s efforts captured the attention of Michigan State coach Ron Mason, who offered the 18-year-old a scholarship.
Heading into the 1996 NHL Draft, however, Weaver’s scouting report failed to impress:
Height: 5-foot-9. Weight: 170 pounds. A powerful hitter. Solid in his own end defensively. An adept penalty-killer. A developing offensive talent.
“Sometimes, some people get overlooked. With me, I could understand.” Weaver said. “It was the old NHL. They were typically looking for guys over 6 feet. Five-nine defensive defensemen weren’t a real priority.”
Still, Weaver traveled to St. Louis to attend the draft. He went to support friends who were likely to be selected while holding out a little hope one team would take a chance on an atypical defenseman. After two days, nine rounds and 241 picks, Weaver remained in the stands at the Scottrade Center. He became a free agent, allowing him to focus on his college career while enabling any NHL team to sign him in the future.
“I think the draft is too much hype,” Weaver said, reflecting on his experience. “It’s actually nice to be undrafted because you choose where you want to go.”
Unwilling to be disappointed, Weaver headed to East Lansing, where he racked up accolades as a four-year letterman at Michigan State.
Weaver tallied four goals and 22 assists in 44 games as a sophomore, continuing the style of play he displayed during his junior career. The next two seasons, he totaled just one goal and 14 points.
Numbers can be deceiving, though. During his junior and senior campaigns, Weaver transitioned his game to a more defensive style. The change resulted in back-to-back CCHA Best Defenseman awards, two CCHA First All-Star Team and two NCAA West Second-Team All-American nods. He capped a productive college career by graduating with a degree in telecommunications and specializations in virtual reality, software development and web design.
This time, however, he was not overlooked by NHL scouts. Atlanta general manager Don Waddell took a chance on the smallish blueliner, signing Weaver to his first professional contract in June 2000. When Weaver joined the Thrashers in September for his first training camp, the jersey in his locker indicated he might not be staying for long.
No. 43 hung in the stall, a digit often reserved for short-term players or tryouts. It was a far cry from the No. 5 he wore during four years at Michigan State.
Weaver approved of the awkward prime. In fact, he’s kept No. 43 for all but two NHL seasons, wearing No. 8 during his second season with the Los Angeles Kings and No. 18 during a 55-game stint with the Vancouver Canucks. When he signed with St. Louis and later Florida, Weaver requested the number that welcomed him to the NHL.
“Every single level, I have to push the boundaries,” Weaver said. “I have to be better than any guy there. I had to impress but not do too much out there. [No. 43] reminds me of the tough times and the battles I had to stay in the NHL.”
Weaver failed to crack the Thrashers’ lineup in 2000-01, spending his first pro season with the International Hockey League’s Orlando Solar Bears. There, he played a role in the team’s Turner Cup championship – the last before the IHL folded. The following season, he appeared in 16 games with Atlanta but again found success in the minors, winning a Calder Cup title with the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves.
Although he earned a few more callups with the Thrashers, it appeared Weaver was destined to be a minor league journeyman until the 2004-05 NHL lockout. When the league returned from a canceled season, on-ice rule changes favored his style. With a more open surface and a crackdown on obstruction, size didn’t matter as much. A quick, intelligent and positionally sound defender could make just as much of an impact as a hulking, physical defenseman did in the “old” NHL.
“When you look at the prototypical defending defenseman, you’re looking for size,” Panthers assistant coach and former NHL defenseman Gord Murphy said. “You’re looking for a big, Hal Gill-type guy. Mike does a lot with his size. You can’t measure a guy [by size]. It’s more the size of his heart than it is the size he is on the chart on the wall. That stands true for Mike.”
Weaver’s professionalism and adoption of techniques that compensate for his lack of size have been his keys to success, Murphy suggested.
“He’s got great anticipation, he’s very intelligent defending. He’s got extremely long arms, so he’s able to use a long stick, which really helps him defending. He keeps people at bay and keeps them at a good distance because of his long arms and long reach. He’s kind of like a defender in basketball who has those long arms. He’s able to use that to his advantage in hockey.
“With some guys, they just develop later than others. It took a while for him to hone his craft and learn how to play that way, and he’s done an exceptional job of it.”
For a team that experienced a great deal of upheaval during the 2010-11 season, the Panthers found a steadiness in Weaver’s game. He was one of only six regulars from that squad who remained following the dramatic offseason overhaul. Murphy called Weaver “a rock” for Florida as it trudged through hard times.
Playing all 82 games, Weaver led the Panthers in even-strength and shorthanded ice time, often playing against the league’s top scoring threats. His penalty-killing skills have not been overlooked, either.
Prior to Weaver’s arrival, Florida killed 79.4 percent of its penalties, seventh-worst in the NHL. The following season, Weaver’s first with the Cats, the Panthers improved to sixth at 84.6 percent.
“He’s taken our penalty-kill to a new level since he came last year,” Murphy said. “He’s one of the main guys. You talk about a quarterback on the power play, well, he’s our quarterback on the penalty-kill. You can’t say enough for the job he’s done in those areas for us.”
Weaver also took on the role of elder in a relatively young Panthers locker room. He doesn’t wear a “C” or “A” on his sweater, but sharing the secrets of his craft with less experienced teammates has proved invaluable.
Last season, the veteran mentored 26-year-old Jason Garrison, who – like Weaver – was an undrafted player trying to stick in the NHL. Weaver taught Garrison the finer points of protecting his own end and the pair evolved into Florida’s most dependable defensive unit, logging big even-strength and shorthanded minutes.
“He’s taught me how to be in the right position,” Garrison said. “Just watching him, how he uses his body, his stick to get to pucks first and defend their top lines, it was a big help for me playing with him last year and learning his attributes and what he does well in the game.”
The evolution of Garrison’s game elevated him to the Panthers’ No. 1 pairing, where he plays alongside All-Star Brian Campbell. Garrison also leads all NHL defensemen with 12 goals.
“[Weaver] has helped me tremendously to get to where I am,” Garrison said. “I definitely wouldn’t be where I am or the player that I am without his help.”
The Panthers have continued to rely on Weaver’s tutelage this season as 21-year-old Dmitry Kulikov and 19-year-old Erik Gudbranson develop.
“Once in a while, the younger guys have questions that are often not asked,” Weaver said. “You’ve almost got to go up to them, give them a pat on the back and say, ‘Keep on going.’”
Dineen often pairs Kulikov with Weaver at even strength.
“He’s a real good person,” Kulikov said. “It has been a pleasure playing with him all year. He does what he needs to do on the ice – take care of his own end. He plays big minutes, too.”
For Gudbranson, the third overall pick in 2010, Weaver is never more than a couple of seats away for a chat.
“He’s the easiest guy to talk to,” Gudbranson said. “He’s been a great vet to someone like me. If I’m bothered by something, he’s the first guy to come over and tell me what to do or give me a little pick me up. I have nothing but respect for him.”
And while Gudbranson appreciates the advice he’s received about his own game, he’s also learning about all sorts of technology from Weaver. The veteran, who still tinkers on the web and loves the latest gadgets, is a product developer with iSpaces, a cloud-computing operating system.
“I’ve learned a lot about iSpaces, the cloud, iPads and MacBooks.” the rookie joked.
Weaver’s role as a teacher extends beyond the NHL. Every summer he hosts Defense First hockey camps in Toronto and Michigan with former Spartans teammate Jon Insana. On the ice, players between 11-18 years old are taught the skills Weaver honed on his way to becoming a premier defender.
But Weaver’s advice to his students about pursuing the NHL dream is equally important.
“We have a topic discussion and it is all about enjoying the journey, especially the [camp] we have in Toronto,” Weaver said. “Hockey is pushed on these kids so young and there is so much pressure there. These kids don’t have time to enjoy their childhood, enjoy being a kid. We teach the kids just to enjoy it.”
Living by the mantra that the journey is the reward is something from which Weaver does not intend to stray. His road ahead may be clearer than the one behind, but the trek continues.