Kevin Weekes

Playing career

Kevin Weekes got his start in organized hockey at the 1989 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament, skating for the Toronto Red Wings. He moved into junior hockey with the Owen Sound Platers of the Ontario Hockey League and later spent a short time with the Ottawa 67's. The Florida Panthers picked him 41st overall in the 1993 NHL draft. While playing for the Panthers' AHL affiliate, the Carolina Monarchs, he was loaned to the Rochester Americans for the 1996 Spengler Cup and took home tournament MVP honors.

He finally made his NHL debut with Florida on October 16, 1997, but struggled to a 0–5–1 record over 11 games. The next summer, he was part of the blockbuster trade that sent Pavel Bure to Vancouver, landing with the Canucks. Over a season and a half there, he went 6–15–5 in 31 appearances before being dealt to the New York Islanders midway through the 1999–2000 season. After that year ended, he was traded again, this time to the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he played until late in the 2001–02 campaign.

On March 5, 2002, the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Weekes in exchange for Chris Dingman and Shane Willis. He mostly backed up Arturs Irbe down the stretch, appearing in just two of the final 17 regular-season games. But during the 2002 playoffs, he became a key piece of Carolina's run to the Stanley Cup Finals. Weekes played in eight postseason games, stepping in for Irbe during a first-round Game 4 loss to the New Jersey Devils and starting the pivotal Games 5 and 6, which the Hurricanes won to take the series 4–2.

He also started the first three games of the second round against the Montreal Canadiens before Irbe took over. In that playoff run, Weekes posted back-to-back shutouts: a 32-save blanking in Game 6 against the Devils and a 25-save shutout in Game 1 versus the Canadiens. The following season, he became Carolina's primary netminder, playing 51 games with a 14–24–9 record. In 2003–04, he again led the team in appearances, skating in 66 games and posting a 23–30–11 mark.

Broadcasting career

Weekes made history in 2009 as the first black analyst in ice hockey. He 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, he was considered one of the Top 40 under the age of 40. In 2021, Weekes made his debut as an analyst for the NHL on ESPN, appearing during coverage of the 2021 NHL expansion draft and the 2021 NHL draft. During the 2022 NHL trade deadline, he became a social media darling by reporting on trades via video from odd places, such as a barber's chair or with the New York City skyline in the background. Fans created memes placing him in various locations, and Weekes leaned into the bit, even reporting a trade with a small trash bin on his head. He has continued making such videos since the deadline.

Personal life

Kevin Weekes was born in Toronto, Ontario and studied at Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute. His parents came to Canada from Barbados. Weekes often wore jersey number 80 because the NHL bans single or double zeros, so he picked the closest alternative. While playing junior hockey for the Ottawa 67's and later with the AHL's Carolina Monarchs, he did wear 00. When he joined the New Jersey Devils, general manager Lou Lamoriello's rule limited most players to numbers 1 through 40, so Weekes got number 1. During his time with the Monarchs, he occasionally wrote a column for the Greensboro News and Record. He also made brief appearances on the soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live. In 2008, Weekes and Willie O'Ree appeared on the Everybody Hates Chris episode "Everybody Hates Gretzky." In February 2023, he became a U.S. citizen.