“I think Samuel Montembeault would win the Stanley Cup in Edmonton this year”.

Once again this year, the Edmonton Oilers are a powerhouse on the ice. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, you name it, there’s talent in Alberta.

In terms of sheer talent, few teams can match Edmonton’s group.

That said, as is the case every year, there’s still one problem with the Oilers: the club’s starting goalie, Stuart Skinner, isn’t living up to expectations. Calvin Pickard replaced him for game #4, and he’ll be in net for game #5 tonight.

Pickard got the job done for one game… but that’s not exactly reassuring in the longer term.

In his most recent piece, Jean-Nicolas Blanchet (TVA Sports) chatted a bit about the situation… and in his piece, he states the following:

I think the Oilers, for example, would be hard to beat with him in front of the net. I even think he’d win the Cup. – Jean-Nicolas Blanchet

Blanchet explains his point as follows: in the playoffs, it’s all about mental toughness, and if there’s one player who’s mentally tough enough, it’s Samuel Montembeault. We’ve seen that since his arrival in Montreal, and the fact that he dominated the international scene last spring suggests that he has the potential to do the same in the playoffs.

Let me ask you this: if you’re the Oilers, would you take Stuart Skinner, Calvin Pickard or Samuel Montembeault in front of the net right now? I think the general consensus would be to go with the Habs’ netminder.

Would the club win the Stanley Cup with Montembeault in net? It’s a hypothetical case, and it’s impossible to know… but I tend to think they’d certainly be in a better position to do so.

And if this thought exercise proves one thing, it’s that when the Habs return to the playoffs, they’ll have in Montembeault a goaltender who has the aura of a goaltender capable of rising to the occasion in spring hockey…. something the Oilers don’t seem to have right now.

In a gust

– Wow.

JORDAN MARTINOOK JUST MADE THE SAVE OF THE PLAYOFFS pic.twitter.com/feWG0RTYVc

– B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 17, 2024

– Great read.

– An opinion shared by millions of the club’s supporters.