Top 25 Montreal Sports Moments Of 2014: 25-21

May 14, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Montreal Canadiens right wing

(22) celebrates his goal with teammate right wing

(8) during the first period against the Boston Bruins in game seven of the second round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

22. Dale Weise Becomes A Cult Hero

WhenMarc Bergevinacquired Dale Weise from the Vancouver Canucks for defencemanRaphael Diaz, it was a move that could have been lost to history. All Dale Weise did was become a mainstay in the Montreal lineup, supplanting guys likeTravis Moen,Rene Bourque, andDaniel Briere.

He made the best of his new opportunity as well. Weise scored some of the biggest goals for the Canadiens in the playoffs. He scored the overtime winner in Game 1 against Tampa Bay, and the opening goal in Game 7 against Boston. Both goals set the tone for the series and the game respectively.

Now, Weise is not a top-nine forward and you can’t expect the run he’s on to continue. He’s getting very lucky and will never be better than he is now. However, having said that, what he brings this team is a very good fourth line player who can pitch in in surprising ways.

You cannot sleep on Weise when you play the Canadiens because he can make you pay with a surprising amount of skill. He made a pass to Rene Bourque in Game 5 against the Rangers that was incredible and has set upMax Paciorettythis season with great passes.

This is one of those moves that just has everything come together. I don’t think even the best-case scenarios had this kind of result for the Canadiens. However, sometimes things work out perfectly and that’s what happened here.

Every playoff run ends up with a significant out-of-nowhere hero. The 2013-14 Canadiens had Weise and Rene Bourque as unlikely heroes and it was a minor trade in February that brought Weise to the Canadiens and created a folk hero.

-Jared Book

Next: No. 21: Patience Pays Off

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