Shea Weber as a Kelowna Rocket. Weber, Carey Price and Vernon's Tom Kowal are among the BC Hockey Hall of Fame's 2024 class. (Kelowna Rockets photo)

By Pete McIntyre

Class of 2024

Weber, Price and Kowal named to BC Hockey Hall of Fame

Mar 1, 2024 | 9:35 AM

Two former stars from the NHL, along with a former NHL official from Vernon, are among the Class of 2024 for the British Columbia Hockey Hall of fame.

Shea Weber, Carey Price, Tom Kowal (officials category), Scott Bradley (builder) and the 2010 Fort St. John Flyers will be inducted into the hall this summer in Penticton.

“The B.C. hockey community has become very deep and rich so we have another wonderfully deserving class,” B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame chair Jim Hughson said. “Our inductees are from Sicamous, Anahim Lake, Abbotsford, Vernon and Fort St. John. Truly a provincial group and some fantastic stories of great contributions to the game.”

Shea Weber, selected 49th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2003 NHL Draft, is one of hockey’s finest all-around defencemen. He played his minor hockey and started his junior career in his hometown of Sicamous and joined the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets at 16 in 2001-02, where he played three seasons and became a Memorial Cup champion in the 2003-04 season.

Among his many accomplishments, Weber received the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2015-16 and has 589 career regular season points with the Predators and Montreal Canadiens in 1,038 career games. He added 42 points in 97 career Stanley Cup playoff games, helping the Canadiens reach the Stanley Cup Final.

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“It’s really a big honour being a B.C. boy in a small town of Sicamous,” said Weber. “I was lucky to play my whole minor hockey and junior career in B.C. and to get this call definitely means a lot.”

In 2015, Price did something that hadn’t been done since Dominik Hasek in 1998 – he won the Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy and Ted Lindsay Trophy – plus he shared the William H. Jennings Trophy with Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Carey Price was inspired to play like Patrick Roy and in 2018, passed the legendary Hab for second place in Canadiens history with his 290th victory in a 3-0 shutout against the Boston Bruins. Price went 361-261 in 712 career NHL regular season games, and added 43 wins in 92 career Stanley Cup playoff games. He led the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final in the 2020-21 season with Weber.

“Obviously I’m incredibly honoured to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, especially with a teammate of mine, that means a lot to me,” said Price. “I’m proud to be from B.C.”

In talking about the recognition, Price said it’s a time for reflection.

“To me it’s amazing how incredibly fast careers come and go,” he said. “Sitting here at home in my room full of equipment and everything, it’s really humbling to have been able to experience such an amazing ride from Anahim Lake to now. It has really been a surreal ride.”

Both Weber and Price have won Olympic gold medals.

Tom Kowal officiated minor and amateur hockey while growing up in Vernon. After officiating in amateur and Junior hockey, including the Western Hockey League and a Memorial Cup, Kowal was hired by the NHL as a referee in 1998 and officiated until the 2017-18 season having worked 1,094 regular season NHL games and 12 Stanley Cup playoff games. After retiring from the NHL, Kowal joined the WHL Officiating Development staff in 2018 and is currently the WHL Officiating Development Coach, based out of High River, Alta.

Scott Bradley is the senior advisor to Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, and has been with the Bruins for three decades. As part of the scouting department, the Bruins drafted key players like Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Before working his way into the pro ranks, the B.C. native coached for five seasons with the Tier II Junior A and Senior AAA League teams in Abbotsford, including an Allan Cup finalist squad in 1989-90.

The 2010 Fort St. John Flyers won their first-ever Allan Cup, the 102nd National Senior Championship with a 3-1 win over the Bentley Generals. Fort St. John went through the tournament undefeated. The Flyers became the ninth host team to win the Allan Cup since the tournament went to a round-robin format in 1992. The national title was the 12th all-time for British Columbia, second only to Ontario’s 48. The Allan Cup is one of the oldest club-team hockey competitions in North America, having been first competed for in 1908.

For more information on the BC Hockey Hall of Fame, click here.