MONTOYA FITS IN WITH HABS
Backup goalie has decent record in a tough job
Things haven’t turned out as expected for Al Montoya since the New York Rangers selected him with the No. 6 overall pick at the 2004 NHL Draft.
It’s rare for an NHL team to draft a goaltender that high, so the Rangers were obviously banking on Montoya to become their goalie of the future. But it didn’t work out in New York and Montoya never played a game for the Rangers before being traded to Arizona in February 2008, finally making his NHL debut the following season with the Coyotes. Montoya became the first Cuban-American to play in the NHL and since then has played for the New York Islanders, Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers and this season he’s Carey Price’s backup with the Canadiens.
Montoya was slated to make his ninth start Saturday in Washington when the Canadiens play the Capitals (7 p.m., CITY, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690). But that plan changed after Carey Price was pulled at 6:44 of the second period Friday night at the Bell Centre after allowing four goals on 18 shots by the San Jose Sharks. Price will now get the start in Washington.
The 31-year-old Montoya had a .500 record (3-3-2) before coming in for Price, which is what NHL coaches hope to get from their backup — especially when they have a goalie like Price as their No. 1.
Montoya’s goals-against average (3.09) and save percentage (.903) took a beating when he allowed 10 goals on 40 shots in a 10-0 loss to the Blue Jackets last month in Columbus. But apart from that game — when he took one (actually, make that 10) — for the team to give Price a night off — Montoya has done OK in what is not an easy job.
“He’s got experience,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said about Montoya after Friday’s morning skate in Brossard.
Montoya is enjoying his time in Montreal, settling on the South Shore along with his wife, Annie, and children Henry and Camila. Henry turns 2 next month, while Camila had her fourth birthday party on Tuesday, which was an off-day for the Canadiens and a bunch of Montoya’s teammates and their kids attended the event.
“What’s pretty cool is that this team has a bunch of kids all within the same age,” Montoya said. “So even though you’re not home with family or grandparents, the guys on this team did a great job of coming out, especially on a day off when it’s not easy to get out of the house.
“We have a pretty good group and it makes the year so much better,” the goalie added. “For us (as players) it’s easy, we come in here, we’ve got 20 guys that, right away, you’re going to be around every single day. And for the wives and kids, it’s a little tougher. So any time you have a good group like that, that brings the families together — especially on special occasions — I think it makes it a better place.”
Montoya grew up in suburban Chicago, raised along with three brothers by his single-parent mother, Dr. Irene Silva, who emigrated from Cuba when she was 10 and went on to establish a thriving medical practice. Montoya was a forward when he first started playing hockey at age 5 before switching to goalie when he was 10. He got his start in nets when his house-league team didn’t have a goalie.
“The first few teams I played on, it was like 50 shots every night, so you were always involved and I think that’s what I loved about it,” he said. “Especially when I played other sports — baseball, basketball, football — you weren’t always involved. So being a hockey goalie always brought me back to the sport no matter whatever else I did.”
At age 14, Montoya decided to give up hockey for a year to focus on being a tight end on his highschool football team. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, David, who was a college tight end at the Naval Academy.
“It was fun, but you just didn’t play enough,” Montoya said. “I’ve got hands, so just use me. It was a running school, though, so what do you do?” You go back to hockey. Montoya played three seasons at the University of Michigan and backstopped Team USA to its first world junior championship in 2004. While he has never made it as a No. 1 goalie in the NHL, Montoya has played in 145 career games, posting a respectable 58-43-20 record. He’s earning US$950,000 this season.
While his kids are young, Montoya said they’re old enough to start realizing their father has a pretty cool job.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “The 4-year-old’s a girl, so she’s more in the princess stage. But my 2-year-old is already going down in the butterfly.”