TROY, N.Y. – Shawn Weller’s hockey life went full circle—from a childhood outdoor rink in South Glens Falls to the Adirondack Thunder in Glens Falls, where he finished his 15-year pro career.

Along the way, there were exhilarating achievements too numerous to count.

At 17, he was a third-round draft pick, 77th overall, of the Ottawa Senators in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He won a scholarship to Clarkson University and spent the summer prior to his freshman year playing for Team USA in the World Junior Championships against the likes of all-time greats Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.

In 2007, he helped Clarkson win an ECAC championship and earned another title 11 years later while playing in Germany.

But another big highlight came this past Sunday night with his induction to the New York State Hockey Hall of Fame during ceremonies at the Hilton Hotel in Troy.

Weller was one of 16 Class of 2026 members, which included two other people, Neil Smith and Steve Levy, with direct ties to Adirondack pro hockey.

Smith won two Calder Cup championships (1986, 1989) as general manager of the Adirondack Red Wings. But he’s best known for building a New York Rangers team that won the 1994 Stanley Cup, ending a 54-year championship drought.

ESPN SportsCenter anchor Steve Levy co-owned the Adirondack Frostbite with good friend and fellow ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose from 2004-06.

Weller first laced up skates as a 4-year-old and remembers idolizing Adirondack Red Wing stars such as Glenn Merkosky, Murray Eaves and Jamie Pushor.

“I played mini-sticks in the (Civic Center) concourse while watching my favorite players,” he said. “I truly looked up to every player that stepped on that ice and always wanted to be one of them.”

Weller cut his hockey teeth at an outdoor rink on Harrison Avenue, South Glens Falls.

“From November to March, every day after school I did my homework—mom’s orders—and then I walked three minutes to my favorite place in the whole world,” he said. “I would skate until dad would whistle for dinner. I would run home, eat as fast as I could so I could head back to play with the older kids. My dad would whistle again, and I knew that was time for bedtime.”

His first taste of organized hockey was on local youth teams. As a teen, his parents drove him an hour south three nights per week for practices with the Albany Storm. He would often complete his school homework in the car on the way home.

Junior hockey came next, with the Capital District Selects coached by Sal Fasulo in Troy.

Then came the NHL draft.

“To hear my name called by Ottawa, walk up on that stage and put an NHL jersey on was a dream come true,” Weller said. “A week later I was sitting in an NHL dressing room for my first development camp, looking around at guys like (Dany) Heatley, (Daniel) Alfredsson, (Wade) Redden, (Zdeno) Chara and (Jason) Spezza. To say it was eye-opening is an understatement, but I was just super proud to be there.”

Following his junior year at Clarkson, he made “the most difficult decision” of his life and left school to pursue a pro career. He started with Ottawa’s AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators. During the next several years, he played more than 300 AHL and ECHL games from Bakersfield, California to St. John’s, Newfoundland. Weller then traveled overseas for seven years of pro hockey in Germany.

Late in the 2021-22 campaign, he came home to play for the Adirondack Thunder and was a major contributor to the team’s 2023 playoff run.

“For my family to be able to watch a few more games and hopefully give local kids something to look up to, whether it was an elementary school visit to read for them or watching us play on the ice, this was truly a full-circle moment for me to finish my career exactly where I started, right in Glens Falls,” Weller said.