Dale Weise: Canadiens Wanted Bruins' Winning Streak Intact, So Montreal Could Break It
BOSTON (CBS) -- Every time the Bruins and Canadiens meet -- whether it's in the preseason, the regular season or the playoffs -- there's always an added level of intensity and emotion.
For Monday night's matchup in Boston, that's most certainly the case. The Canadiens are hoping to leapfrog Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division standings with a win, and they're also hoping to put an end to the Bruins' 12-game winning streak.
In fact, the Canadiens apparently were rooting for Boston to win on Saturday night, so that they themselves would have the honor of ending that long winning streak.
"We're glad they came back to beat Phoenix," said Dale Wise, according to ESPN's Joe McDonald, "because we want to be the ones to knock them off."
Them's fightin' words, in a game that needed no extras.
Weise has somewhat of a history against the Bruins, as he dropped the gloves with Nathan Horton in the famed Stanley Cup rematch at the TD Garden in January 2012 (though Weise, of course, did not partake in that Stanley Cup Final, as he was not yet a member of the Canucks). Later in that game, Weise was unwilling to fight Shawn Thornton after the two squared up on a center-ice faceoff, with Weise backing away from Thornton until officials got between the two.
That exchange led to the unforgettable showdown between Thornton and Vancouver writer Tony Gallagher, organized on live television by Michael Felger.
"Hey, he was really tough when he was one of the seven guys punching me in the back of the head," Thornton said at the time. "But when had had to answer me face-to-face, it wasn't the same thing. My thing is, if I'm going to punch somebody in the back of the head in a pile of seven people, I know I am man enough to back it up."
We'll see Monday night whether Weise is more in the spirit of dropping the gloves to help his team end the Bruins' winning streak.
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here, or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
MORE BRUINS COVERAGE FROM CBS BOSTON
