Монреаль Канадиенс багийн хаалгач Самюэль Монтембо өнгөрсөн улирлын бүтэлгүйтлийг ардаа орхиж, шинэ улирлын бэлтгэлдээ бүрэн төвлөрч байгаагаа мэдэгдлээ.
Самюэль Монтембо бэлтгэлийн баазын үеэр хэвлэлийнхэнд өгсөн ярилцлагадаа өнгөрсөн улирлын алдаа дутагдлыг мартаж, шинэ эхлэл хийхэд бэлэн байгаагаа илэрхийлэв. Тэрээр аав болсон нь хоккейноос өөр зүйлд анхаарлаа хандуулахад тус дөхөм болсныг онцолсон ч плей-оффийн үеэр барьсан тоглолтын хэмнэлээ алдахгүйн тулд бэлтгэлээ үргэлжлүүлсээр ирсэн байна. Одоогоор тэрээр бэлтгэлийн “B” бүрэлдэхүүнтэй хамт сургуулилт хийж байгаа бөгөөд энэ нь өөртөө итгэх итгэлээ сэргээхэд тустай хэмээн үзэж байна.
Ерөнхий менежер Кент Хьюз улирлын эхэнд гурван хаалгачтай байхаар төлөвлөөгүй байгаагаа мэдэгдсэн нь Монтембогийн хувьд тодорхой хэмжээний сорилт болж байгаа юм. Хэдийгээр түүнийг солилцоонд орох магадлалтай гэсэн таамаг байгаа ч хаалгач өөрөө ирээдүйг бус, өдөр тутмын ажилдаа анхаарч, өөрийн үүрэг гүйцэтгэлийг батлахыг зорьж байна.
Бямба гарагт Монтембо болон түүний багийнхан Торонто Мэйпл Лифс багийн үндсэн бүрэлдэхүүнтэй нөхөрсөг тоглолт хийхээр төлөвлөж байна. Энэ нь Остон Мэттьюс, Уильям Нюландер, Жон Таварес зэрэг NHL-ийн шилдэг довтлогчдын эсрэг өөрийгөө сорих том боломж болох юм. Дасгалжуулагч Мартин Сен-Луи хаалгачдын нэрсийг албан ёсоор зарлаагүй ч Монтембо энэ тоглолтод гарааны хаалгачаар гарах магадлал өндөр байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
On Friday,
Montreal Canadiens’ former number one goaltender Samuel Montembeault spoke to
the media for the first time since training camp began and, unsurprisingly, said
he has turned the page on last year’s debacle. Being a new dad helped him do
that; it made it easier to think about something besides hockey, but he didn’t
take that big a break because he wanted to keep building on what he had put
together when he wasn’t playing during the playoffs.
For now,
what the goaltender needs is to build up his confidence, and in that sense, it
may be very good for him to be training with Team B. Right now, he’s not facing
the team’s top offensive weapon, and after Friday’s practice he said:
It went
well this summer, so I felt ready when I got to camp. The first two days went
well. Today I gave up just two goals in the whole practice, both to Florian, but I feel good, and as I said, I don’t want to think too much about what’s coming. I want to come to work every day, and we’ll see what happens.
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Obviously,
like everyone else, he’s aware that GM Kent Hughes has said he’s ready to start
training camp with three goaltenders but not the season, but he doesn’t want to
discuss whether that increases the pressure on him:
It comes
back to what I said: I don’t want to think ahead to when the season will start.
We still have a couple of weeks before then, so I want to work, try to do things
the right way and give myself the best odds. I’ve got a role to earn; we know that
last year it didn’t go well. So it’s a new start; I want to come to work and do
things the right way.
Put into
context, Hughes’ declaration could mean a couple of different scenarios. It
doesn’t necessarily mean that Montembeault will be traded; it could simply mean
that Jacob Fowler, who doesn’t have to clear waivers, is sent down to Laval.
Would that be ideal? No. Of course Fowler could use more action, but given what
he showed last season, it feels like he’d benefit more from seeing that action
in the NHL, facing NHL players who are more skilled and tougher to stop than AHLers.
That’s one reason Hughes will move Montembeault if he gets an opportunity;
besides, since the Bécancour native is playing a contract year, he certainly
wouldn’t mind a shot at being number one elsewhere to prove his worth.
On Saturday
night, Montembeault and Team B will head to Toronto to take on what is likely
to be the Toronto Maple Leafs’ A Team, based on what we’ve seen of the Leafs’ training
groups. In other words, after facing the Canadiens’ bottom six,
he’ll face Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John
Tavares, new sensation Gavin McKenna, and new defenseman Darren Raddysh. With
all due respect to the Canadiens’ bottom six, that promises to be a bigger
challenge. Thankfully, that game will take place away from the spotlight of the
Bell Centre, which will at least let Montembeault ease back in mentally.
Martin
St-Louis has yet to confirm who will start for the Canadiens in Saturday night’s
split-squad games, but logic dictates that Montembeault will get the start. Training
camp is short this season, and the Habs have no time to waste. They need to see
and know whether the netminder can bounce back, wherever he ends up. A strong
performance would also go a long way toward improving his value on the trade
market. On Jason Gregor’s podcast earlier this week, Frank Seravalli said he believes Montembeault will be the first player traded this season, and if he can prove last year was a bump in the road, that wouldn’t be surprising.
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