Player Discussion Sam "Dikembe" Montembeault

[Sorinth]

In his 1.5 seasons of work, that has absolutely not been true.

It's not as far from the truth as you might initially think, if we judge good vs bad games via a SV% threshold and say anything under 0.900 is a bad game and anything equal to or greater then 0.920 is a good game then he's had 23 good games and 22 bad ones. Notably this year he's at 11 good and 5 bad.

 

[Tyson]

It is time to start showing this guy some respect. The amount of improvement he has shown from day 1 is remarkable.
He earned my respect last season when it was learned he was playing through a pretty significant wrist injury.

Goalies take longer to develop.

I am no longer writing him off as simply a "stop gap".

 

[rik schau]

It is time to start showing this guy some respect. The amount of improvement he has shown from day 1 is remarkable.
He earned my respect last season when it was learned he was playing through a pretty significant wrist injury.

Goalies take longer to develop.

I am no longer writing him off as simply a "stop gap".

I liked him last year as well,hung out to dry so often. Hasn't let in nearly as many soft goals as Allen,and has made some remarkable saves.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I liked him last year as well,hung out to dry so often. Hasn't let in nearly as many soft goals as Allen,and has made some remarkable saves.

I'm not sure how good Monty becomes but he is improving right in front of our eyes. He's 26 but with only 81 NHL games played.

The gains he made while battling through being exposed last season on a bad team and also this season where he is playing better than Allen should not be ignored completely.

I guess we are too scared to pump him up or trust what he is doing. Kind of fair so we are staying humble but Monty has earned my respect. He shows up and he's working very hard at improving.

 

[JianYang]

It's not as far from the truth as you might initially think, if we judge good vs bad games via a SV% threshold and say anything under 0.900 is a bad game and anything equal to or greater then 0.920 is a good game then he's had 23 good games and 22 bad ones. Notably this year he's at 11 good and 5 bad.

He's been pretty good. I'd say he started off the year very well, then hit quite a road bump in Vancouver when he lost the 4-0 lead. Now, he seems to be back to pre Vancouver form in the last three starts or so.

 

[rik schau]

I'm not sure how good Monty becomes but he is improving right in front of our eyes. He's 26 but with only 81 NHL games played.

The gains he made while battling through being exposed last season on a bad team and also this season where he is playing better than Allen should not be ignored completely.

I guess we are too scared to pump him up or trust what he is doing. Kind of fair so we are staying humble but Monty has earned my respect. He shows up and he's working very hard at improving.

He has earned to start over Allan,and just to mix things up some,if habs want to tank,play Primeau.

 

[Habs Halifax]

He has earned to start over Allan,and just to mix things up some,if habs want to tank,play Primeau.

Habs are not going to destroy youth movement and confidence cause we want a higher % for Bedard. Let the cards fall where they fall. I'm not the type to get obsessive over Bedard when it's not even probable the last place team gets him.

Imagine how you would feel if you want to be bottom 3 but the team who is bottom 7th gets Bedard.

 

[rik schau]

Habs are not going to destroy youth movement and confidence cause we want a higher % for Bedard. Let the cards fall where they fall. I'm not the type to get obsessive over Bedard when it's not even probable the last place team gets him.

Imagine how you would feel if you want to be bottom 3 but the team who is bottom 7th gets Bedard.

Well we all know that everyone has their own ideas how to proceed going forward and all, but I for one want to watch high intensity hockey with effort and let cards fall where they may.Great to get lucky and win the lottery and end up a game-breaker but a team still needs more than that if they ever hope to win a championship.

 

[Goalfield13]

Monty isn’t a guy that lets in bad goals very often, and he has proven he can maintain focus for long periods, which is what separates backups from starters. I saw flashes of this last year as well, where his numbers didn’t show the whole picture. Sure, he had his bad games, but often he was a bright spot even in blowouts. Our team was trash last year and he was hurt for a good portion of it. Loved his professional attitude. The guy just needed to see some rubber. He’s a keeper (pun intended).

 

[the]

There’s definitely something. Keep playing him, he’s getting better and better.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Not surprised we Montreal miraculously find a #1 goalie out of nowhere.

 

[Walrus26]

The beach ball percentage continues to reduce. He still misses a few you think he shouldn't (and still manages to look small in the net more often than you would expect) but the improvements are there for all to see, especially his ability to make the second and third saves. Funny how, once again, we see a guy visibly improving by learning on the job in the big league.

Chapeau.

 

[Tyson]

One improvement that sticks out for me is that he doesn't get rattled after letting in a bad goal. He doubled down after that somewhat weak goal in the first minute. He has taken nice strides in his development.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

One improvement that sticks out for me is that he doesn't get rattled after letting in a bad goal. He doubled down after that somewhat weak goal in the first minute. He has taken nice strides in his development.

This is the biggest thing, especially since he's playing for a bad team right now, we often get cycled on super hard right off the gate and monty leaves in a ugly tip or semi-screened floater from the point, he always seems to double down after letting one of those. Shows some nice CHaracter

 

[schwang26]

Told ya. That's all I need to say.

 

[JHabs]

It is time to start showing this guy some respect. The amount of improvement he has shown from day 1 is remarkable.
He earned my respect last season when it was learned he was playing through a pretty significant wrist injury.

Goalies take longer to develop.

I am no longer writing him off as simply a "stop gap".

I second this. He's an NHLer, even yesterday as I was watching him sprawl and make saves, you never felt the sheer panic and discombobulation that we sometimes see with backups. He was in it, and was cookin' in the kitchen. Impressive

 

[CHwest]

Habs are not going to destroy youth movement and confidence cause we want a higher % for Bedard. Let the cards fall where they fall. I'm not the type to get obsessive over Bedard when it's not even probable the last place team gets him.

Imagine how you would feel if you want to be bottom 3 but the team who is bottom 7th gets Bedard.

Math says the lower you finish the better your odds. This is a generational player, Habs should be doing their best to get him, he is a franchise changer.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Nothing rattles this guy. He's starting to look like the real deal. He doesn't care when he's losing he just battles harder. Beast mode.

He's big fast and agile, quick reflexes, constantly pushing himself to improve. We have a real nice one here, in a couple years when we actually have a good defense in front of him watch out.

 

[CoopersFalls]

I guess I will eat some crow. I vehemently stated this guy wouldn't be anything but a fringe back-up. I now think otherwise.

 

[Goalfield13]

The beach ball percentage continues to reduce. He still misses a few you think he shouldn't (and still manages to look small in the net more often than you would expect) but the improvements are there for all to see, especially his ability to make the second and third saves. Funny how, once again, we see a guy visibly improving by learning on the job in the big league.

Chapeau.

He was a victim of the numbers game in FLA at the time, and his next step was to see rubber at the NHL level. Glad it is working out for him. I feel that if we drafted him instead of getting him for nothing (by a much maligned GM around these parts), there would be much more hype for this guy. I get it that people want the best possible pick in this draft, but we could potentially have a solid starter for the future….

 

[1909]

Math says the lower you finish the better your odds. This is a generational player, Habs should be doing their best to get him, he is a franchise changer.

How can they do that without looking like shit and fakers ?

He was a victim of the numbers game in FLA at the time, and his next step was to see rubber at the NHL level. Glad it is working out for him. I feel that if we drafted him instead of getting him for nothing (by a much maligned GM around these parts), there would be much more hype for this guy. I get it that people want the best possible pick in this draft, but we could potentially have a solid starter for the future….

Or, at least, a very good and solid #2 who can easily play 25-35 games per season.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

How can they do that without looking like shit and fakers ?


Or, at least, a very good and solid #2 who can easily play 25-35 games per season.

Trade away all the vets and bring up all the AHLers like the Chicago Shit Hawks.

 

[1909]

Trade away all the vets and bring up all the AHLers like the Chicago Shit Hawks.

You may have noticed that it's our young players that are making this team less mediocre. Habs can trade Edmundson, Monahan, Dadonov, Hoffman or Drouin.... It won't make a difference.

And a lottery is a lottery. Detroit recently were always finishing dead last and were drafting 3rd or 4th. Rangers finished 11th and drafted 1st overall.

 

[Fatbiggie]

He’s finally starting to fill up to the greatness of his jersey # (in reference to the legendary Mike Mcphee of course)

 

[DailyKaizen]

One improvement that sticks out for me is that he doesn't get rattled after letting in a bad goal. He doubled down after that somewhat weak goal in the first minute. He has taken nice strides in his development.

Ken Dryden wrote about this in his book, always look at the goaltender's body language and overall reaction to all the goals conceded...