Doug Weight
American center, Oiler captain, and Stanley Cup champion.
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Doug Weight is an American former professional ice hockey center who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for six teams, most notably the Edmonton Oilers. He is notable for recording his only 100-point season with the Oilers, serving as their captain, and later winning the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.
Lore & Background
Weight began skating at age two on a doctor's suggestion to help straighten his legs, as he had a childhood condition requiring leg braces. He played youth hockey with the Detroit Compuware team and later led the NAJHL in scoring before playing two NCAA seasons at Lake Superior State University. Drafted 34th overall by the New York Rangers in 1990, he played 65 games with the Rangers before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers for Esa Tikkanen.
With the Oilers, Weight recorded six 20-goal seasons and a personal-best 104 points in 1995–96. He served as captain from 1999 to 2001 and led Edmonton to five consecutive playoff appearances.
Due to the team's financial situation, he was traded to the St. Louis Blues in 2001. After three seasons with the Blues and a stint in the German Elite League during the 2004–05 lockout, he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in January 2006. In the 2006 Stanley Cup Final against the Oilers, Weight suffered a separated shoulder in Game 5 and missed the remainder of the series, but the Hurricanes won the Cup in seven games.
Weight later played for the Anaheim Ducks and New York Islanders, becoming captain of the Islanders in 2009. He retired in 2011 due to a lingering back injury. After retiring, he served as an assistant coach and later head coach of the Islanders, and in 2022 became a hockey operations adviser for the San Jose Sharks.
Reader's Guide
Doug Weight's significance lies in his dual impact as a playmaking center and a leader. He is one of only 44 players in NHL history to record over 700 assists and 1,000 points. His tenure with the Edmonton Oilers defined the prime of his career: he produced six 20-goal seasons, a 104-point campaign, and captained the team through five straight playoff appearances. Despite being traded due to Edmonton's financial constraints, Weight later faced his former team in the 2006 Stanley Cup Final, winning the championship with Carolina despite a separated shoulder.
Internationally, he helped the United States win the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Weight's leadership was recognized with the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in a season where he played only 18 games due to back injuries. He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Edmonton Oilers Hall of Fame in 2023.
Career statistics and honours
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1988–89 | Bloomfield Jets | NAJHL | 34 | 26 | 53 | 79 | 105 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1989–90 | Lake Superior State | CCHA | 46 | 21 | 48 | 69 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1990–91 | Lake Superior State | CCHA | 42 | 29 | 46 | 75 | 86 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1990–91 | New York Rangers | NHL | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1991–92 | Binghamton Rangers | AHL | 9 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 1991–92 | New York Rangers | NHL | 53 | 8 | 22 | 30 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 1992–93 | New York Rangers | NHL | 65 | 15 | 25 | 40 | 55 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1992–93 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 13 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1993–94 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 84 | 24 | 50 | 74 | 47 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1994–95 | Star Bulls Rosenheim | DEL | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1994–95 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 48 | 7 | 33 | 40 | 69 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1995–96 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 82 | 25 | 79 | 104 | 95 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1996–97 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 80 | 21 | 61 | 82 | 80 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 8 |
| 1997–98 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 79 | 26 | 44 | 70 | 69 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 14 |
| 1998–99 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 43 | 6 | 31 | 37 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| 1999–2000 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 77 | 21 | 51 | 72 | 54 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| 2000–01 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 82 | 25 | 65 | 90 | 91 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 17 |
| 2001–02 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 61 | 15 | 34 | 49 | 40 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 2002–03 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 70 | 15 | 52 | 67 | 52 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 2 |
| 2003–04 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 75 | 14 | 51 | 65 | 37 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 2004–05 | Frankfurt Lions | DEL | 7 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 26 | 11 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 8 |
| 2005–06 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 47 | 11 | 33 | 44 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2005–06 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 23 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 25 | 23 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 20 |
| 2006–07 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 82 | 16 | 43 | 59 | 56 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2007–08 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 29 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2007–08 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 38 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2008–09 | New York Islanders | NHL | 53 | 10 | 28 | 38 | 55 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2009–10 | New York Islanders | NHL | 36 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2010–11 | New York Islanders | NHL | 18 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — |
| NHL totals | 1,238 | 278 | 755 | 1,033 | 970 | 97 | 23 | 49 | 72 | 94 | ||
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | United States | WJC | 7 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 4 |
| 1993 | United States | WC | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| 1994 | United States | WC | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 16 |
| 1996 | United States | WCH | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 |
| 1998 | United States | OG | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2002 | United States | OG | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| 2004 | United States | WCH | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 2005 | United States | WC | 7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| 2006 | United States | OG | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Senior totals | 49 | 5 | 27 | 32 | 54 | ||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| College | ||
| All-CCHA Rookie Team | 1989-90 | |
| All-CCHA First Team | 1990-91 | |
| AHCA West Second-Team All-American | 1990–91 | |
| CCHA All-Tournament Team | 1991 | |
| NHL | ||
| All-Star Game | 1996, 1998, / 2001, 2003 | |
| Stanley Cup champion | 2006 | |
| King Clancy Memorial Trophy | 2011 | |
| United States Hockey Hall of Fame | 2013 | |
Tables copied from the source article, totals included as the source gives them: Wikipedia: Doug Weight (CC BY-SA 4.0). Wide tables scroll sideways.
Did You Know?
- Weight set a single-tournament record for an American player with 5 goals and 14 assists at the 1991 World Junior Championships.
- He played his 1,000th NHL game against the Edmonton Oilers on November 17, 2006.
- A baseball diamond at Wallace Park in Saskatoon was named in Weight's honor after his community work during the Islanders' 2009-10 training camp.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Doug Weight (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Statistics, medals and awards: the tables of the source article.
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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