Montreal’s Dale Weise loves Alain Vigneault; but the Flyers organization ... not so much
The former Flyer is a fourth-liner for the Canadiens these days.
Montreal fourth-liner Dale Weise said he owes his career to Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault and assistant Michel Therrien, but would love nothing more than to beat the club they now lead.
Weise played three nondescript seasons here before the Flyers dealt him to Montreal a week before the 2019 trade deadline. Christian Folin went with Weise for David Schlemko and Byron Froese.
“They didn’t feel that I was a fit on their team, so that’s extra motivation for me, for sure,” he said. “You always want to show a team that they made a mistake. ... So, definitely, extra motivation for me.”
Weise skates on a line with Max Domi. They were joined in the series clincher by Alex Belzile, who played in his first NHL game in place of the injured Jake Evans.
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Weise has played once against the Flyers since the deal, the Jan. 16 game when Montreal handled the Flyers, 4-1, at the Wells Fargo Center.
Originally drafted by the Rangers in 2008, Weise was picked up by Vancouver in 2011 after New York gave up on him. Alain Vigneault was the coach of the Canucks.
“AV was a guy who gave me my first shot to be a full-time NHLer,” said Weise. “I owe a lot to him.”
It was back to the moving company again in 2014 when Weise was dealt from Vancouver to Montreal. He had the best years of his career there when Therrien, now a key assistant to Vigneault, was the Canadiens’ head coach.
“Both those guys were tremendous. I can’t say enough good things about them,” Weise said. “I was quietly cheering for them when they both got hired [by Philadelphia last summer] and turned that franchise from being on the edge of a playoff spot to where they are now. They are first in the East for a good reason. They are really well coached. I’m happy for them ... until they play us.”