Wesley to be honored Feb. 17

Former Hurricanes defenseman will have jersey retired

RALEIGH -- Glen Wesley spent all but a few months of his 20 NHL seasons with two franchises, the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes.

When they meet on Feb. 17 at the RBC Center, the recently retired defenseman will be honored and his No. 2 jersey retired, the Hurricanes announced Tuesday.

"It makes it pretty special, starting my career out there," Wesley said Tuesday. "Finding that out today, it was pretty exciting to hear that."

Wesley spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Bruins before he was traded to the Hartford Whalers in 1994. He moved with the Whalers to North Carolina in 1997 and was the last player left from the move when he retired in June and the team announced its intention to retire his jersey.

Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said the team considered a few other dates, but that Tuesday night won out -- for obvious reasons.

"It could potentially be a Versus game, and it's against the Bruins," Rutherford said. "At the end of the process, it seemed to make the most sense."

Wesley played a total of 13 seasons for the Hurricanes franchise -- minus a brief stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the spring of 2003 -- and only Ron Francis has played more games for the franchise than Wesley's 913.

Francis' No. 10 is the only jersey the franchise has retired since coming to North Carolina. (No player has worn No. 3 since Steve Chiasson died after the 1998-99 season, but his jersey is not officially retired.)

Fittingly, Francis and Wesley now work together in Carolina's front office, Francis as assistant general manager and director of player development and Wesley as director of defenseman development.

They spoke Tuesday, but about Wesley's new role, not any forthcoming honors they may share.

"He's already getting ready to talk to me for meetings for the upcoming year," Wesley said. "We're gong to be going on some trips together, and he'll be showing me the ins and outs of evaluating and working with prospects. We're locking down my travel schedule.

"All this stuff is new and fresh. I guess I'll kind of be a rookie now working in the front office. It's something I'm excited about -- and a little bit nervous."

Wesley scored 128 goals and 409 assists in 1,457 career NHL games.