External reinforcement: Samuel Montembeault must step up to save his job

Jonathan Di Gregorio
External reinforcement: Samuel Montembeault must step up to save his job
Credit: Getty Images

To say that Samuel Montembeault is having a difficult season would almost be an understatement.

From being the team's designated number-one goalie at the start of the season, the québécois was sent back to Laval for fitness reasons.

We sometimes see this with goalies returning from injury, but hardly ever for a healthy goalie.

And unfortunately, things didn't start well for Monty, who, without being bad, still allowed 4 goals on 25 shots in his first start with the Rocket in a 5-2 loss for his club (the last goal was scored in an empty net).

Nothing to help the goalie's confidence.

What's more, his layoff can last a maximum of two weeks, so he has a maximum number of games to get back into shape by the time he returns to the Habs.

It's hard to explain what's happening with Montembeault, but he clearly seems to have lost his bearings, and in professional sports, especially for a goalie, confidence is very important to a player's performance.

The problem is that the Québécois is going through a long dry spell as the Canadiens fight for a playoff spot.

And for the time being, the task of defending the Habs' net falls to two youngsters, aged 21 and 24, with 3 and 35 games of experience respectively. Not an ideal situation.

According to Chris Johnston, if Montambeault's experiment doesn't pan out, the Canadiens may well turn to the trade market to acquire a goaltender after the holiday freeze.

If Kent Hughes can find a team interested in drafting a veteran goaltender, it could be an interesting solution to the team's problems in front of the net.

What's more, I don't believe that this goalie absolutely has to be an established number one, but simply someone who could assist one of our young goalies and give him the benefit of his experience.

However, such a deal could also mean the end of Montembault in Montreal.


Overtime

– To listen to.

– Finally!

– What a race.

– Slam dunk!

-Crazy!

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