The stories of Shea Weber and David Poile have been intertwined for more than two decades.

Poile drafted Weber while he was general manager of the Nashville Predators and ultimately gave him the captain’s job.

He also sent the city’s star defenseman away in a blockbuster trade.

Both are now members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Weber joined Pavel Datsyuk, Jeremy Roenick, Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell as 2024 inductees in the player category Monday night. Poile and Colin Campbell came in as builders.

“There is so much to be grateful for when you play this game,” Weber said during his speech. “And it’s not just about the big moments, getting a playoff win or winning Olympic gold. It’s the small moments – seemingly routine – that matter the most.

The 39-year-old from Sicamous, British Columbia, whose career ended prematurely due to a long list of injuries, has been unable to play since helping Montreal advance to the final of the 2021 Stanley Cup.

Weber scored 589 points in 1,038 games with the Canadiens and Predators. He added 42 points in 97 playoff games.

“My love for the game remains strong,” he said. “Even though my body didn’t last as long as I had hoped.”

Weber’s career trajectory changed in June 2016 when Poile traded him to the Canadiens for compatriot PK Subban in a stunning one-for-one trade.

Weber thanked Montreal’s ownership, management and fans for giving him “a chance to play in the most passionate hockey city” he has ever seen.

“I think I should thank David Poile for that too,” Weber added with a wry smile as the crowd looked on as his former teammates, including Carey Price, looked on.

Poile reflected on his career during his 41 years in the NHL as a general manager, including the advice he received while working under Cliff Fletcher before ascending to the big chair.

“He sat me down and said bluntly, ‘David, if you ever get the chance to become a general manager, you’ll know what it’s like to trade a player and uproot your family,'” Poile recalled . “We could not have imagined at that time that I would make the most trades ever in the history of the National Hockey League.

“But I always remembered Cliff’s message.”

The Toronto native started as an executive in the NHL with the Atlanta and Calgary Flames before becoming the team’s general manager. Washington Capitals in 1982. Poile then joined the expansion Predators in 1997 to become general manager, a position he held until his retirement in 2023.

“I put my heart and soul into the game,” Poile said. “But hockey has given me and my family so much more.”

Datsyuk, 46, had 918 points in 953 games with the Detroit Red Wings. He had 113 points in 157 playoff games, including Stanley Cup victories in 2002 and 2008.

The Russian center, blessed with majestic skill, also won the Lady Byng Trophy as the NHL’s most gentlemanly player four times and won the Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward three times.

Datsyuk, who along with Weber was in his first year of eligibility, played five seasons in the KHL after leaving Detroit in 2016. He represented his country in five consecutive Olympics, winning gold in 2018 and bronze in 2002.

“Being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame is a tremendous honor,” said Datsyuk. “(An) honor I couldn’t even dream of.”

Roenick, 54, has 1,216 points in 1,363 games with the Chicago BlackhawksPhoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyersthe Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. The colorful Boston-born winger added 122 points (53 goals, 69 assists) in 154 playoff games.

Roenick, who won silver at the 2002 Olympics, had to wait 12 years for his call.

“I love this game,” he said. “It’s been such an important part of my life for most of my life.”

Wendell, 43, represented the United States at the Olympics twice, winning silver in 2002 and bronze in 2006. The forward from Brooklyn Park, Minn., won six medals at the world championships and was the first American captain to win gold in a tournament.

“The greatest thing in hockey wasn’t winning championships or medals,” Wendell said. “But the people I got to meet along the way.”

Darwitz, 41, represented the United States at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 Winter Games, winning two silver medals and a bronze. The St. Paul, Minn., native also competed at the world championships eight times, winning three gold medals.

“I was not an ordinary little girl, and somehow my mother was following me,” Darwitz said. “On my fifth birthday, my blonde French braids walked into the hockey rink.”

Campbell’s hockey life has included time as a player, coach and, for the past 25 years, senior executive vice president of the NHL. He helped launch the league’s centralized video review center, which is now the standard across much of the North American sports world.

The 71-year-old also won the Stanley Cup in 1994 as the team’s associate coach. New York Rangers.

“I’ve talked to the superintendents over the years and the board of governors,” Campbell said. “This is a first, and when I look at this group, it’s certainly inspiring and scary.”