More than a decade ago, Mike Weber was a freshman hockey player at Seneca Valley High School.

He also played for the Pittsburgh Junior Penguins amateur team and, like so many other youngsters, sported the dream of turning pro in the sport he loved.

Then this kid decided to truly go for it.

Before the age of 16, he headed to Iowa to live with a host family, attend school and play in the Ontario Hockey League. Talk about guts.

I remember being nervous going away to college for the first time. Being as young as Weber was when he first left home for such an extended period of time, I can’t imagine. But it paid off.

Weber matured into a rugged defenseman wo wound up getting drafted in the second round by the Buffalo Sabres. After a few years in Buffalo, where he tallied nine goals, 63 points and 407 penalty minutes, Weber was recently traded to the Washington Capitals.

Now, at age 28, he has a chance to win the Stanley Cup. The Capitals have the best record in the NHL right now.

This is not to suggest that every kid playing hockey right now with a dream of playing in the NHL should leave home. It does suggest that if the talent is there, a hockey player from around here has a realistic shot at making the big time.

Many kids from Western Pennsylvania have completed the long journey from local high schools to the NHL since Upper St. Clair graduate Ryan Malone became the first to do so in 2003.

Plum graduate R.J. Umberger has scored 179 goals in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets and is still going strong.

Pine-Richland graduate Brandon Saad is one of the bright young stars of the NHL and has already scored 75 goals in the league, along with hoisting the Stanley Cup.

John Gibson, a goaltender from Pittsburgh, is only 22 years old and is an all-star netminder with the Anaheim Ducks. He has a 2.10 goals-against average and four shutouts this season.

Gibson played in the United States Hockey League befgore getting his shot with Anaheim.

J.T. Miller, a winger from nearby East Palestine, Ohio, has scored 17 goals and tallied 17 assists with the New York Rangers so far this season. Miller, Saad and Gibson have all skated and worked out at the Ice Connection in Valencia at one point over the summer.

Youth hockey in this region continues to grow, in quality as well as quantity. The arrival of the UPMC Lemieux Complex is only going to stimulate that growth.

There are a number of current local high school players — Trevor Gilliland and Connor Scott of Butler, Alex Crilley of Seneca Valley among them — with visions of moving on to top-level junior hockey programs. One can only wish them well.

They clearly have plenty of examples to follow.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle