Montembeault bides his time
Young goaltender works on development as he waits for call
This is the fourth year Sam Montembeault has been to Panthers development camp.
If you look at the goaltending depth chart ahead of him, it’s tough to imagine he will break into the NHL with Florida.
Roberto Luongo will have the starting job as long as he wants it, and he’s signed through 2021-22. James Reimer is Luongo’s backup, and he’s signed through 2020-21.
Even when those two struggled with injury problems last season, Harri Sateri, not Montembeault, was called up and performed well. Sateri is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, but the point stands that Montembeault might be with the Springfield Thunderbirds in the AHL for some time to come.
That prospect doesn’t trouble Montembeault, at least not yet. After all, he’s just 21, the youngest of the four goaltenders by seven years, and he’s still viewed by many as the long-term goalie of the future.
“For me, it’s just to always be ready, because you never know what can happen,” Montembeault said. “I don’t know exactly how many years I’ve still got. Obviously for a goalie it’s always longer to develop and then get to the NHL. I just have to take my time, do what I have to do to get better, and when the opportunity will come, it will be for me to take it.”
Last season with the Thunderbirds, Montembeault allowed 3.25 goals per game and finished with a .896 save percentage, which both ranked in the bottom ten of eligible AHL goaltenders.
So technically speaking, Montembeault has some work to do to be ready for his opportunity. But techni-
cal improvement is small part of what camp is for.
For many of the players, it’s about learning professional habits. Thunderbirds head coach Geordie Kinnear calls it preparation.
“The preparation, like, mental preparation, being a pro, coming to the rink, you know, balancing your nutrition, just learning,” Kinnear said. “In juniors you don’t have to worry about that, because you live with a family. All of a sudden, you’re away from your family, you’re by yourself, you know, you see a snickers bar or a salad, and, ‘What do I choose?’ That’s just making the right decision and being disciplined.”
Others at development camp are getting their first taste of what it’s like to prepare like a pro. Montembeault, even with his struggles, played a full season of professional hockey last year.
Combine that with past development camp experience, and he’s ahead of the curve when it comes to learning preparation skills.
This week is now about hammering home his work habits to turn them into instincts.
“I call it the agony of repetition,” Kinnear said. “The more they hear it, the more only a development it sinks in. … From technical, to mental, to the coaching aspect, systematic. And the more you hear it, and the more repetition, the more you’re gonna be successful, and the faster the learning curve. So I believe in that agony of repetition.”
On the ice, Montembeault has been trying to soak in all he can from Panthers’ goaltending coach Robb Tallas and Thunderbirds’ goaltending coach Leo Luongo this week.
That and his preparation have combined to make Montembeault look like the heralded goaltending prospect he is at development camp. Kinnear said he thought his young goaltender was one of the best players on the ice Thursday.
“It’s always good to be back on the ice with players to get the timing back and the game shape,” Montembeault said. “… But I just, like, always work hard and try and improve too, because, like, I don’t see these guys — [Tallas] and [Luongo] — until September, and working out all week will pay off.”
When that payoff comes is unknown. But Montembeault is working to be ready when it does.
mpersak@ sun-sentinel.com, 954-425-1955 or Twitter @MikeDPersak