| Kevin Weekes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Weekes in 2012 | |||
| Born | (1975-04-04)April 4, 1975 (age 50) | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 235 lb (107 kg; 16 st 11 lb) | ||
| Position | Goaltender | ||
| Caught | Left | ||
| Played for | Florida Panthers Vancouver Canucks New York Islanders Tampa Bay Lightning Carolina Hurricanes New York Rangers New Jersey Devils | ||
| NHL draft | 41st overall,1993 Florida Panthers | ||
| Playing career | 1995–2009 | ||
Kevin Weekes (born April 4, 1975) is a Canadian former professionalice hockeygoaltender who played 348 games in theNational Hockey League (NHL). He is now astudio analyst for NHL Network, appearing on shows likeOn the Fly andNHL Tonight, while also calling weeklyshowcase games. He also calls games onESPN/ABC, and makes regular studio appearances during games and on ESPN's weekly hockey show,The Point.
As a youth, Weekes played in the 1989Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto Red Wingsminor ice hockey team.[1]
Weekes' career began with theOwen Sound Platers of theOntario Hockey League. He also had a brief stint with theOttawa 67's.[2]
He was chosen 41st overall by theFlorida Panthers in the1993 NHL entry draft. In 1996, while playing for the Panthers'American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, theCarolina Monarchs, Weekes was loaned to theRochester Americans to participate in the1996 Spengler Cup competition and was named MVP of the tournament. He made his NHL debut with the Panthers on October 16, 1997, going 0–5–1 in 11 appearances for the Panthers. The following summer he was traded to theVancouver Canucks in a trade forPavel Bure and compiled a 6–15–5 record in 31 appearances over a season and a half before being traded to theNew York Islanders halfway through the 1999–2000 season. At the conclusion of that season he was traded to theTampa Bay Lightning, where he played until late in the 2001–02 season.[citation needed]
TheCarolina Hurricanes acquired Weekes on March 5, 2002 forChris Dingman andShane Willis. Weekes essentially served as a backup toArturs 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 the2002 Stanley Cup Finals. Weekes played in eight games during the 2002 playoffs, including relieving Irbe in a first round, game four loss against theNew Jersey Devils, and starting in goal during the critical games five and six of that series., which the Hurricanes won four games to two. Weekes also started games one, two and three of the second round against theMontreal 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.[citation needed]
Weekes was the primary goaltender for the Hurricanes during the 2002–03 season playing in 51 games and compiling a 14–24–9 record and was the primary goaltender for the Hurricanes in 2003-04 playing in 66 games compiling a 23–30–11 record.[2]
Weekes signed with theNew York Rangers as a free agent prior to the2004–05 NHL lock-out, winning his first start with the Rangers on October 5, 2005 in a game against thePhiladelphia Flyers. His time with the Rangers looked to be promising until an injury kept him out and he lost his number one spot toHenrik 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 theNew Jersey Devils to serve as a backup to All-StarMartin Brodeur. In the 2008–09 season, Brodeur suffered an injury which sidelined him for almost the entire season. This left Weekes andScott Clemmensen battling for the number one spot. Brodeur returned, Weekes remained as the backup and Clemmensen was sent back down to the AHL.[3] Weekes was injured in a game on 3 April 2009.[3] Clemmensen took over as the backup to Brodeur.[3] The Devils made the playoffs, but lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
Weekes announced his retirement from playing on September 27, 2009.[4]
Weekes made history in 2009, when he became the firstblack analyst in ice hockey.[5] Weekes provides colour commentary for NHL games on theNHL Network andHockey Night in Canada.[5] InThe 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.[6]
In 2021, Weekes made his debut as an analyst for theNHL on ESPN.[7] He appeared during ESPN coverage of the2021 NHL expansion draft and the2021 NHL draft.[8]
During the 2022 NHL trade deadline, Weekes became a social media darling when he started reporting on trades on video from odd places. Although he started off posting simple selfie videos from normal locations, he quickly started adding more substance, such as reporting from a barber's chair, or with theNew York City skyline in the background.[9] Many fans started create memes, manipulating the background so that it would seem that Weekes would report on different crazy locations, such as space and various world landmarks, and even some fictional locale.[10] As the deadline went on, Weekes continued to lean into the bit, even reporting a trade with a smalltrash bin on his head, obscuring his head. Since the viral deadline, Weekes has continued making such videos.
Weekes was born inToronto,Ontario and went toDr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute. His parents had emigrated fromBarbados toCanada.[11]
The reason that Weekes sometimes worejersey number 80 was that he wanted to wear 00 but the NHL does not allow a player to wear single or double zero jerseys. So Weekes chose the number that most closely resembled 00. Upon signing with theNew Jersey Devils, as a result of former general managerLou Lamoriello's policy of wearing jerseys 1–40 with exception of marquee players, Weekes was given jersey number 1.[citation needed] Weekes wore 00 in junior hockey when he played for the Ottawa 67's. He also wore 00 as a member of the Carolina Monarchs in the AHL. He was also featured as a columnist periodically with the Greensboro News and Record during his time with the Monarchs. Weekes appeared on both the soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live making cameo appearances.Weekes andWillie O'Ree appeared in theEverybody Hates Chris episode "Everybody Hates Gretzky" in 2008.[12][13]
In February 2023, Weekes became an American citizen.[14]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | OTL | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
| 1990–91 | Toronto Red Wings | MTHL | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | St. Michael's Buzzers | MetJHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 41 | 1 | 0 | 1.46 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Toronto Red Wings | MTHL | 35 | — | — | — | — | 1,575 | 68 | 4 | 1.94 | — | 4 | 1 | 2 | 214 | 15 | 1 | 4.21 | — | ||
| 1991–92 | St. Michael's Buzzers | MetJHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 127 | 11 | 0 | 5.20 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Owen Sound Platers | OHL | 29 | 9 | 12 | 5 | — | 1,645 | 143 | 0 | 5.22 | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 11.50 | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Owen Sound Platers | OHL | 34 | 13 | 19 | 1 | — | 1,974 | 158 | 0 | 4.80 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Ottawa 67's | OHL | 41 | 13 | 23 | 4 | — | 2,266 | 153 | 1 | 4.05 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Carolina Monarchs | AHL | 60 | 24 | 25 | 8 | — | 3,404 | 229 | 2 | 4.04 | .876 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Carolina Monarchs | AHL | 51 | 17 | 28 | 4 | — | 2,899 | 172 | 1 | 3.56 | .895 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 11 | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | 485 | 32 | 0 | 3.96 | .870 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Fort Wayne Komets | IHL | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | — | 719 | 34 | 1 | 2.84 | .918 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Detroit Vipers | IHL | 33 | 19 | 5 | 7 | — | 1,857 | 64 | 4 | 2.07 | .919 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 11 | 0 | 8 | 1 | — | 532 | 34 | 0 | 3.83 | .868 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–2000 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 20 | 6 | 7 | 4 | — | 986 | 47 | 1 | 2.86 | .898 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–2000 | New York Islanders | NHL | 36 | 10 | 20 | 4 | — | 2,025 | 115 | 1 | 3.41 | .902 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 61 | 20 | 33 | 3 | — | 3,377 | 177 | 4 | 3.14 | .898 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 19 | 3 | 9 | 0 | — | 829 | 40 | 2 | 2.89 | .915 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 119 | 3 | 0 | 1.50 | .927 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 408 | 11 | 2 | 1.62 | .939 | ||
| 2002–03 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 51 | 14 | 24 | 9 | — | 2,965 | 126 | 5 | 2.55 | .912 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 66 | 23 | 30 | 11 | — | 3,764 | 146 | 6 | 2.33 | .912 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | New York Rangers | NHL | 32 | 14 | 14 | — | 3 | 1,850 | 91 | 0 | 2.95 | .895 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 4 | 0 | 4.00 | .840 | ||
| 2006–07 | New York Rangers | NHL | 14 | 4 | 6 | — | 2 | 761 | 43 | 0 | 3.39 | .879 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 9 | 2 | 2 | — | 1 | 343 | 17 | 0 | 2.97 | .894 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 16 | 7 | 5 | — | 0 | 795 | 32 | 0 | 2.42 | .920 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 348 | 105 | 163 | 33 | 6 | 18,837 | 903 | 19 | 2.88 | .903 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 467 | 15 | 2 | 1.93 | .927 | ||||
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