Four Nations: “Samuel Montembeault will start this tournament”.

If Nick Suzuki wasn’t selected by Team Canada for the Four Nations Confrontation because he shunned the Canadiens at the last World Championship, why was Samuel Montembeault chosen?

Was it because he speaks French?

You know as well as I do that the answer is different for a goalie (who won gold in 2023, which also counts) than for a forward, a position of strength for Team Canadiens in 2024.

So, here he is with Adin Hill and Jordan Binnington, two Stanley Cup winners. Is he really the #3 goalie many people say he is? The question arises.

According to Renaud Lavoie on BPM Sports this morning, we’ll have to wait a while before drawing any conclusions.

Samuel Montembeault will start this tournament. – Renaud Lavoie

What the TVA Sports journalist is saying is that Montembeault’s stats are much better than those of his Hockey Canada colleagues when it comes to winning games this season.

In eight wins this season, it looks like this.

Average of 0.69
.978 save percentage

These are stats that, with support, make him very good. And clearly, with Team Canada, he’d have a lot of support, since the team ahead of him would be better than the Habs.

That could make all the difference.

In reality, all this will depend on the next few months. The three goalkeepers are chosen, and the one who performs best in time and place will be the one who has his coach’s confidence when the tournament begins.

And for a guy who was put through the waivers just over three years ago, let’s just say it’s pretty spectacular to see Montembeault’s progression curve over the past few seasons.

“When I left Florida, people said I was an AHL goalie at best. Hopefully, after 3-4 years, I’ve changed their minds.”

A few words about Samuel Montembeault and Julien BriseBois’ call-up on Sunday

lp.ca/2d2CO5?shari…

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– Guillaume Lefrançois(@glefrancoislp.bsky.social) December 6, 2024 at 00:00

Overtime

– Well done.

This season, our goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens chose to pay tribute to the 14 victims of Polytechnique with 14 rays of light prominently displayed on her mask pic.twitter.com/gnFxajKfvf

– Victoire de Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) December 6, 2024

– Of note.

Toronto badly needs to add a quality prospect. https://t. co/hgpgdLFAWB

– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) December 6, 2024

– Luke Richardson will surely bounce back.

Another coach who will land somewhere very quickly. Played in the NHL forever and has coached in the league a long time now too. A hockey lifer who gets it and most importantly a great person. Had the pleasure of playing for him in MTL. One of my favorite coaches. https://t.co/OClOaYiALV

– Nate Thompson (@NateThompson44) December 6, 2024

– Things are going well for the Blues.

#STLBlues are 4-0-1 since Jim Montgomery took over.

– NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) December 6, 2024

– Interesting.

ÉCJ: Parekh added to camp guest listhttps://t.co/MCsGBbr4Bz

– RDS (@RDSca) December 6, 2024