Career

Player

Weekes' career began with the Owen Sound Platers of the Ontario Hockey League. He also had a brief stint with the Ottawa 67's.

Chosen 41st overall by the Florida Panthers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, he joined the team for the 1997-98 season, going 0-5-1 in 11 appearances for the Panthers. The following summer he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in a trade for Pavel Bure and compiled a 6-15-5 record in 31 appearances over a season and a half before being traded to the New York Islanders halfway through the 1999-2000 season. At the conclusion of that season he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he played until late in the 2001-02 season when he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes.

He played in a tandem with Arturs Irbe, helping lead the Hurricanes to the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals while recording two shutouts in the playoffs, establishing a Hurricanes team record.

He signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent prior to the 2004-05 NHL lock-out, winning his first start with the Rangers on October 5, 2005, in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers. His time with the Rangers looked to be promising until an injury kept him out and he lost his number one spot to Henrik 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 the New Jersey Devils to serve as a backup to All-Star Martin Brodeur. In the 08-09 season, Brodeur suffered an injury which sidelined him for almost the entire season. This left Weekes and Scott Clemmensen battling for the number one spot. With the two battling, Weekes would again see himself in the playoffs with the team losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of the quarter finals.

Weekes announced his retirement from playing on September 27, 2009.

Broadcasting

Weekes made history in 2009, when he became the first black analyst in hockey. Weekes provides colour commentary for NHL games on the NHL Network and Hockey Night in Canada. In The 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.

Personal

Weekes' parents emigrated from Barbados to Canada and went to Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute.

The reason that he sometimes wore jersey number 80 was he wanted to wear 00. However, the NHL does not allow a player to wear single or double zero jerseys. "Shady 80" chose the number that most closely resembled 00. Upon signing with the New Jersey Devils, as a result of former general manager Lou Lamoriello's policy of wearing jerseys 1-40 with exception of marquee players, Weekes was given jersey number 1. Weekes wore 00 in junior hockey when he played for the Ottawa 67's.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	OT	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	—	—	—	—	1575	68	4	1.94	—
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	—	1645	143	0	5.22	—
1993-94	Owen Sound Platers	OHL		34	13	19	1	—	1974	158	0	4.80	—
1994-95	Ottawa 67's	OHL		41	13	23	4	—	2266	153	1	4.05	—
1995-96	Carolina Monarchs	AHL		60	24	25	8	—	3404	229	2	4.04	.876
1996-97	Carolina Monarchs	AHL		51	17	28	4	—	2899	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	—	1857	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	—	2025	115	1	3.41	.902
2000-01	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		61	20	33	3	—	3377	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
2002-03	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		51	14	24	9	—	2965	126	5	2.55	.912
2003-04	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		66	23	30	11	—	3764	146	6	2.33	.912
2005-06	New York Rangers	NHL		32	14	14	—	3	1850	91	0	2.95	.895
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

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1991-92	St. Michael's Buzzers	MetJHL		4	1	2	214	15	1	4.21	—
1992-93	Owen Sound Platers	OHL		1	0	0	26	5	0	11.50	—
2001-02	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		8	3	2	408	11	2	1.62	.939
2005-06	New York Rangers	NHL		1	0	1	60	4	0	4.00	.840
NHL totals				9	3	3	467	15	2	1.93	.927

Transactions

• January 17, 1999 - Traded from the Florida Panthers with Dave Gagner, Ed Jovanovski, Mike Brown and conditional draft pick to the Vancouver Canucks for Pavel Bure, Bret Hedican, Brad Ference and conditional draft pick.
• December 19, 1999 - Traded from the Vancouver Canucks with Dave Scatchard and Bill Muckalt to the New York Islanders for Félix Potvin, second round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (Teemu Laine) and 3rd pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (Thatcher Bell).
• June 24, 2000 - Traded from the New York Islanders with Kristian Kudroc and second round pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft to the Tampa Bay Lightning for first round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (Raffi Torres), fourth round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (Vladimir Gorbunov) and seventh round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (Ryan Caldwell).
• March 5, 2002 - Traded from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Carolina Hurricanes for Chris Dingman and Shane Willis.
• August 26, 2004 - Signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent.
• July 5, 2007 - Signed with the New Jersey Devils as a free agent.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]