Weise: 'I'm totally excited about the opportunity'

MONTREAL - Dale Weise is officially back in town.

After being acquired by the Canadiens on Saturday, the 30-year-old forward made the trip from Pennsylvania to Quebec on Sunday to join the AHL's Laval Rocket.
Then, he was recalled by the Habs on Monday.
To say that Weise is delighted about the move would be an understatement. Admittedly, it's been hard for him to contain his enthusiasm about returning to the organization.
"Landing, it just really felt surreal. I don't even know what to say about it. I'm totally excited about the opportunity," said Weise, who previously played 152 games over three seasons with the Habs. "When you have people that believe in you, and you get a fair shake and a good opportunity, that's all you can ask for. I'm just excited to be back where I had success before. From another standpoint, watching the team, I'm just excited about the Montreal Canadiens. I think they've got a really good team."

Weise was in the gym at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA - home of the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms - when he found out that the Canadiens had secured his services for the second time.
It's a story the nine-year NHL veteran will surely never forget.
"I was getting a stretch in. The way the rink is set up there, you can see through the window, you can see the coaches' office. I saw the coach [Kerry Huffman] kind of looking at me a little bit. We got home pretty late, so he was maybe like - 'Why isn't this guy sleeping, what's going on?' Then, he walks in with his phone - 'Weiser, did you see this?' I was like, 'No, I don't know what you're talking about.' The last thing I thought of was a trade. I thought it was something funny he was going to show me on his phone," described Weise with a laugh. "It was the Flyers' Instagram saying that I'd been traded, so it was a unique situation. I haven't had that happen before."
Needless to say, Weise wasted little time retrieving his cell phone. And, it was literally blowing up.
"I had about 100 text messages and a bunch of missed calls. I was trying to find [my wife] Lauren just to send her a quick text. I realized that I wasn't going to find her name through all of the texts I'd gotten," mentioned Weise. "I called her and I was like - 'Hey, we got traded to Montreal.' I think she kind of thought that I was joking. She didn't quite believe me, but I think it kind of set in right away and she was so excited and so pumped. I think she might have been more excited than I was."

The first of those "100 text messages" actually came from one of Weise's good buddies during his previous tenure with the Canadiens.
"Gally [Brendan Gallagher] actually sent me the first text on my phone. He was one of the first guys to reach out. It was pretty funny, obviously pretty cool," said Weise. "He was one of the guys I was really close with when I played here. I'm really excited to get a chance to play with him again."
Excitement all around
Lauren wasn't the only member of the Weise clan who was stoked to learn that her husband was Montreal-bound again.
The couple's five-year-old son, Hunter, has always been a Habs fan and never let go of his love for the CH, according to the gritty forward.
"He's pumped. When we were in Montreal, Hunter was just two or three years old. He kind of had an idea of what it was all about, but now he really has an understanding of what I do and how it all works. He can play the video games and stuff like that. We've got the Carey Price Shooter Tutor in our garage, so telling him was a really cool feeling. Montreal was the first time where he realized what his dad did," explained Weise, who also has a three-year-old daughter, Jordana. "Every time we play the video game, he's always the Montreal Canadiens so he can be dad and have Carey Price in net."

And, it won't be long before the Weises welcome some new additions to the family.
Lauren is pregnant with twins, a girl and a boy. She is due in late April.

Committed to the cause
Since departing Montreal in February 2016, Weise believes he has changed in more ways than one.
"If anything, I'm better all around. You continue to work on all facets of your game. You try to get faster. Do I think I'm faster? Yes, probably. Obviously, everyone works on their skills in the summer. I just think I'm a better all-around player," affirmed Weise, who registered five goals and 11 points in 42 games with the Flyers this season. "I'm a better pro. I know what works better for me to get my body prepared every night to be able to compete at the top level. That's probably it. I just think as you get older, you get a little more experience and I think it helped me in a positive way."
With that in mind, Weise is eager to get to work with the Canadiens.
He plans on playing the same brand of hockey that earned him plenty of praise during his previous stint in bleu-blanc-rouge.
"I can be an energy guy, a good locker room guy, a good leader. I've got some experience in the League and coming down the stretch in the playoffs, I'm also a guy who can even be bumped up in the lineup and fill in from time to time," mentioned Weise. "I don't see myself doing anything different than I did before. Being a good energy guy and a good leader and a good teammate."

In short, Weise looks at the transaction as a new beginning that presents a challenge he is wholeheartedly embracing.
"The last two-and-a-half-years, I don't want to use the word 'a bit of a struggle,' but it's been a tough time. To have this happen, and I've got twins on the way, there's nothing but positive things happening to me and just a really, really exciting time," said Weise, who sits just 19 games shy of reaching the 500 NHL games played mark. "I've battled my whole career. I don't think anyone would have thought I ever would have played in the NHL, so this is nothing new for me. All you can ask for is an opportunity in hockey, and coming here is kind of like a fresh start for me."
So, what did Weise miss most about Montreal since his departure in February 2016?
"I can't just pick one thing. There are too many good things here. The organization is first-class. It's by far and away the best organization you can ask for in the NHL," praised Weise. "I missed everything - the team, the fans, they were great to me and my family in my time here. Just the buzz of being in a Canadian city playing for a team with passionate fans like the Canadiens. I just think being in a fishbowl of a hockey market, that's probably what I missed the most."