FanHouse SheaWeber

Shea Weber is one of 46 players -- and 16 defensemen -- selected to take part in team Canada's Olympic camp in an effort to suit up for the 2010 winter games in Vancouver. Weber, a native of nearby Sicamous, British Columbia, is looking forward to the opportunity to represent his country.

We had a chance to speak with the 23-year-old on Wednesday afternoon about the Olympics, playing in Nashville, the possibility of a defenseman ever reaching the 100-point plateau, and being the No. 44 player on the FanHouse Top 50 -- something that seemed to leave him surprised and excited.

FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 44 is Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber.

The 2003 NHL draft is shaping up to be one of the best classes ever, and I don't think that's an exaggeration. Take the first round for example, where 27 of the 30 players selected have already played at least 100 games in the NHL. Hugh Jessiman, selected 12th overall by the New York Rangers, is the only player that has yet make his debut.

With four of the top 50 picks that year, the Nashville Predators emerged with two building blocks along the blue line -- defensemen Ryan Suter in the first round (seventh overall) and Shea Weber in the second round (49th overall). Weber has already established himself as an elite defenseman, finishing fourth in the voting for the Norris Trophy in 2008-09, while he's combined with Suter to form one of the better defensive pairings in the league.

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Thanks to the shootout wins by the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers on Friday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins enter their game in Toronto on Saturday five points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It's pretty much a must-win game for the Penguins, and thankfully, they'll be getting some fresh bodies in Sergei Gonchar and Ruslan Fedotenko.

Gonchar has missed the entire season to this point thanks to a shoulder injury suffered in the preseason. He's been the light at the end of the tunnel for Penguins fans, hoping he can return to the lineup and instantly boost a dormant power play unit. Probably not that simple, but, hey, let's hear it for hope!

It's great to see quality NHL action return to Chicago after years of disappointing hockey, and man, what a team the windy city has. With their 4-1 win in Minnesota on Sunday, the Blackhawks picked up their ninth straight victory, improving their record to 20-6-7, good enough for the fifth best record in the league.

Chicago received a four-point performance from Dustin Byfuglien, who scored a pair of goals in the first period and also added a pair of assists later in the game, as the Blackhawks dominated Minnesota. Cristobal Huet faced only 19 shots, turning away 18 of them to pick up his fifth consecutive win in goal. During his personal winning streak, Huet has allowed only four goals, posting a .967 save percentage.

Cal Clutterbuck scored Minnesota's only goal, while Martin Havlat and Kris Versteeg added tallies for the Blackhawks.

While Chicago has been reeling off win after win, the Wild have been going the opposite direction winning just two of their past 10 games.

Late in the first period of last night's Predators-Canucks game, with the score tied at one, Vancouver's Rob Davison leveled Nashville's Scott Nichol following a dump-in to the zone, leading to a rather physical night of hockey in the music city. It was a classic, "Hey, keep your head up" moment.

In the wake of the crushing hit, Jason Jaffrey and Rich Peverley squared off at center ice. Not the best scrum we've seen, but Peverley losses points for fighting with his visor on. Doesn't this violate the code?

The Minnesota Wild are probably the last team you would expect to be involved in a 6-5 game, but, hark, here we are. Paul Stastny scored a pair of goals and picked up an assist for the Avalanche, as they snapped the Wild's modest two-game winning streak on Monday night.

Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom had what was, perhaps, his worst night of the season, giving up six goals on 26 shots through the first two periods. He didn't come back out for the third, as Josh Harding took over and stopped all five shots he faced in the defeat.

For the Avalanche, Peter Budaj gave up five goals of his own on 17 shots, as Minnesota picked up goals from Pierre-Marc Bouchard (2), Owen Nolan, Mikko Koivu, and Brent Burns.

Bouchard scored his second goal of the game just 22 seconds into the second period, giving Minnesota a brief 3-2 lead. Just three minutes later, Stastny picked up his first, as the Avalanche would fill the net three more times in the period, ultimately chasing Backstrom from the game.

Minnesota head coach Jacques Lemaire called the first 40 minutes the worst two periods he had seen, as Colorado was not only leading 6-4, but also holding a commanding 26-12 edge in shots on goal.

New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus entered play on Sunday with just two goals in his first 19 games this season. He had no trouble blowing that total out of the water during the Devils' 7-3 win over Tampa Bay, as he scored four goals on eight shots, while New Jersey won its fourth straight game.

During the current winning streak, the Devils have scored 21 goals after scoring just 22 in their previous nine games. As for the four-goal effort, it was the first such performance by a Devil since October 29, 2000, when John Madden and Randy McKay each scored four goals in a 9-0 win over the Penguins.

Zubrus scored a pair of goals in the second and third periods, while New Jersey also received tallies from Zach Parise, Brian Gionta and Mike Rupp. Scott Clemmensen earned the start in goal, turning aside 26 shots to pick up the win.

Olaf Kolzig started for Tampa Bay, in place of the injured Mike Smith, and surrendered five goals on 28 shots before being yanked in the second period in favor of Karri Ramo. I'm guessing it wasn't the result Rick Tocchet was looking for following his first NHL win behind the bench, as Tampa Bay has now won just three times its past eight games.

Martin St. Louis and Radim Vrbata picked up goals for the Lightning, while Ryan Malone scored on a penalty shot, his fourth goal of the season.

While the trading away of veterans Tomas Vokoun, Scott Hartnell, and Kimmo Timonen signaled a cleaning of the Nashville Predators' house, and reeked of a ' asset sell off', the Preds have quietly done a good job in securing their premium young players to long-term deals.

First, it was David Legwand, who signed for 6 seasons and $27 million. Now? It's Martin Erat, who was rewarded for his fine playmaking skills with a 7-year deal worth $31.5 million. W00t!

"Martin Erat is a perfect example of this organization's philosophy," Poile said. "He came to us as a seventh-round draft pick, and grew steadily into an elite player when given an opportunity to succeed. He has continued to take on more responsibility and is an integral part of our team moving forward. We look forward to his leadership and production for the next seven years."

As fellow FanHouser James Mirtle notes, Erat is getting paid quite handsomely for a guy who puts up a good-but-not-great 55-60 points a season. Given Erat's upside, he *should* be able to do better in the future, and he has the skills to do so.

Next up for the Preds? Ryan Suter and Shea Weber, the two cornerstone defensemen who will both want similar contracts, and one Dan Ellis, who won the #1 goaltender's job after Chris Mason laid a whole basket of eggs.