• Known as a shutdown defenseman, Wesley tallied nine points (2-7—9) and played in all of Plymouth’s 68 games during his first Ontario Hockey League season in 2013-14.

• His father, Glen Wesley, was selected third overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1987 NHL Draft and played 20 seasons with the Bruins, Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs. He skated in 1,457 regular-season games and 169 postseason contests, winning the Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006. Glen’s brother, Blake, played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Maple Leafs.

• Wesley wears No. 20 because that was the number his dad wore with Hartford when he was born. On his father’s influence: “Growing up watching him, all I could think about was how hard I have to work to do what he did someday. It has been a goal of mine to work as hard as he did to play that long.”

• His most memorable hockey moments are winning the gold medal with Team USA at the 2012 Under-17 Four Nations Tournament and capturing bronze with his country at the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

• A forward for much of his career, Wesley converted to being a full-time defenseman with the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes under-16 team in 2011-12, before joining the U.S. National Under-17 Team in Ann Arbor, Michigan for the 2012-13 season.

• Wesley learned to skate in the “Mice on Ice” program in Raleigh alongside No. 1-ranked European Skater Kasperi Kapanen, whose father, Sami, played with the Hurricanes at the time.

• He celebrated Carolina’s Stanley Cup victory in 2006 on the ice with his dad and family and also skated alongside his father when Glen’s No. 2 was retired by the Hurricanes.

NEWS

WESLEY’S PATH ILLUSTRATES PROGRESS OF HOCKEY IN N.C. (click here)

FAVORITES

NHL team: Carolina Hurricanes
NHL player: Sidney Crosby
Shootout move: “Fake shot and go to your backhand”
Goal celebration: “Down on one knee with a fist pump”
Video game: NHL 14
Movie: Madagascar
TV show: America’s Got Talent
Actor: Ben Stiller
Music group: Newsboys
Website: NHL.com
Sport (other than hockey): Golf
Athlete (non-hockey): Rickie Fowler