The NHL has announced that Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber will have a hearing with discipline czar Brendan Shananan today for a hit last night on Vancouver’s Jannik Hansen (watch the hit here.)
Weber received a two-minute boarding minor on the play (and an additional two for unsportsmanlike conduct). If the first penalty sounds familiar, it’s probably because Pittsburgh D Kris Letang was whistled for the same exact thing against the Jets before Shanahan nailed him with a two-game suspension.
The question now is if Weber will be considered a repeat offender. In Nashville’s previous game -- a 3-1 loss to Edmonton -- Weber also received a two-minute boarding minor for nailing Jordan Eberle. No, Weber wouldn’t be a repeat offender in the traditional sense. Yes, he could still be classified as one.
It’s probably a stretch to call the Predators captain a serial boarder (mostly because the term doesn’t exist), but one could say the hits are related because both were born out of frustration. A team that prides itself on airtight checking and defense, the Preds have been awful during their current four-game losing streak. They’ve been out-shot 137-94 and outscored 16-6. Weber’s gone pointless over that stretch while racking up 12 penalty minutes.
To get a full sense of Nashville’s frustration level, look no further than head coach Barry Trotz. He lit into his team following last night’s 5-1 loss in Vancouver, saying rookie Mattias Ekholm was “horrible” and telling his young players if they’re scared of playing the best teams in the league, they should get a dog.