Montreal Canadiens: Skaters Give Sam Montembeault No Chance in Only Preseason Action

The Montreal Canadiens picked up Samuel Montembeault off waivers earlier this week.

It was a bit of a surprising move, but it gives the team insurance in case Carey Price is not able to join the team at the start of the regular season. The 24 year old Becancour, Quebec native played 13 games last season with the Syracuse Crunch, posting a 2.86 GAA and a .898 SV%. He also has 25 games of NHL experience in his career with the Florida Panthers.

Given the timing of his waiver claim, Montembeault doesn’t have a lot of time to prove himself to the Canadiens brass. Unfortunately, his one preseason game was one most Habs fans would like to forget.

Not that it was Montembeault’s fault that the score was lopsided. The Canadiens lost 6-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Montembeault was probably the best Canadiens player on the ice. The Habs were thoroughly dominated for most of the game, especially the first forty minute, and just didn’t give Montembeault a chance to actually show what he can do.

Montembeault looked real sharp in the first period, even though he allowed three goals. He faced 22 shots in those opening 20 minutes which is a busy enough night for some goalies.

At one point about halfway through the second period, the shots on goal favoured the Maple Leafs 32-7. It was just a completely lopsided affair that gave Montembeault little hope of shining. Still, he did the best he could and was clearly the team’s best player throughout the game. You would hope he still gets the chance to make the NHL roster if Price is injured next week.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Montembeault when Price does come back. He requires waivers before being sent down to the Laval Rocket, but will another team claim him? We will have to wait and see.

Let’s hope he gets to play another game first, because a barrage of shots in his preseason action with a new team isn’t the best measure of his ability.