Craig Weller (born March 17, 1981) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

and

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). Drafted 167th overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Weller played for the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

, and

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

during his career.

Playing career

Weller was born in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. As a youth, he played in the 1995

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

with the Calgary Junior Flames

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

team. Weller was the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

5th round choice, 167th overall, in the 2000 NHL Draft. After playing with the

Charlotte Checkers The Charlotte Checkers are a professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affiliate of the ...

of the ECHL and the

Hartford Wolfpack The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the PeoplesBank Arena. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

, he was signed as a free agent by the

on July 19, 2007. He scored his first career NHL goal on October 25, 2007, against the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

; the goal turned out to be the game-winning goal. On July 1, 2008, Weller signed a two-year, $1.2 million contract with the

. On October 18, 2009, he was traded to the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

along with prospect Alexander Fallstrom and a second round draft pick in 2011 in exchange for

Chuck Kobasew Nicholas James Kobasew (born April 17, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Amateur Kobasew is from the town of Osoyoos, British Columbia, 3 ...

. On March 3, 2010, Weller was traded from the Bruins to the Florida Panthers along with Byron Bitz and a second round draft pick in exchange for Dennis Seidenberg and

Matt Bartkowski Matthew Richard Bartkowski (born June 4, 1988) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League (AHL). Playing caree ...

. On 1 November 2010, the

Cardiff Devils The Cardiff Devils () are a Welsh professional ice hockey team who play in the UK-based Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). The team plays at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay, currently known as ''Vindico Arena'' for sponsorship reasons. Cardiff' ...

of the

EIHL The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to internationally as the British Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level ...

in the UK announced they had signed Weller, who was a free agent at the time. He became the most experienced NHL player after

Theoren Fleury Theoren Wallace "Theo" Fleury (born June 29, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, author and motivational speaker. Fleury played for the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks of the ...

to play in the Elite League, playing in his preferred position as a defenceman. With Weller on board, the Devils embarked on 22-game unbeaten streak, breaking the league and world records. However, the Devils narrowly missed out on the league title, finishing level on points with the Sheffield Steelers but having won 1 regulation game less, before being beaten in the Playoff final 5–4 to the Nottingham Panthers. After his first season in the UK Weller quickly established himself as a reliable, solid two way defenceman, drawing admiration from across the league, culminating in 3 awards - League Player of the Season (Journalist's Choice), Player of the Season (Voted by League GM's and Coaches) and Defenceman of the Season (Voted by League GM's and Coaches). Weller left the Devils to join

Villacher SV EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV are an ice hockey team in the ICE Hockey League. They play their home games at Stadthalle (capacity approximately 4,500 spectators) in Villach, Austria. The team colors are blue and white. Their mascot is an eagle - Vill ...

of the

Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League, ICEHL), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria. It c ...

for a single season before venturing to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to accept a try-out with ERC Ingolstadt for the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season. In establishing a position within Panther's lineup, Weller was signed for the remainder of the campaign on September 5, 2012.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weller, Craig 1981 births Living people Canadian ice hockey right wingers Cardiff Devils players Charlotte Checkers (1993–2010) players Chicago Wolves players EC VSV players ERC Ingolstadt players Hartford Wolf Pack players Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Ice hockey people from Calgary Minnesota Wild players Phoenix Coyotes players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Providence Bruins players St. Louis Blues draft picks 21st-century Canadian sportsmen