The Canadian | The selective memory of Samuel Montembeault

Twice at the end of October, Samuel Montembeault had to come out of his net, right in the Bell Center, because he had just allowed too many goals.

For a goalkeeper thus humiliated, there are sometimes places where it is possible to hide, arenas where the locker room corridor is further away, where it is possible to wait in silence and in the background. But not at the Bell Centre, where the reserve goalie’s stool is in full view, at the end of the Canadiens bench.

“When it happens like that, in front of our fans, it’s even worse,” noted the Quebec goalkeeper in the locker room on Wednesday at the Brossard training center. You’re there, you find yourself at the end of the bench, and you don’t want to be there, especially at home. It’s embarrassing, and it sticks in your head until you fall asleep at home…”

Fortunately, the two difficult evenings in October, against the New York Rangers and the Seattle Kraken, did not stay in his head for long. Each time, upon his return to training, Montembeault asked Éric Raymond, the Canadiens’ goaltending coach, if he saw a problem in his game.

Each time the answer was no.

“He told me, it’s good, nothing is broken, so I continued to do my routine, like we always do in every training session. »

It’s getting better, in fact. Since his last early withdrawal, on October 29 at the Bell Centre, after allowing five goals to the Kraken, the Quebec goalkeeper has found his bearings. In his next seven starts, he responded with four games of two goals or less, including Monday’s shutout against the Edmonton Oilers, his second zero of the season.

“It’s one of the important qualities of a goalkeeper; you have to have selective memory, he added. I had these two bad games at the end of October, but I realized there was nothing I could do about it. The next day, I put it in the trash. I didn’t even make a video, I didn’t even watch the match clips. Both times, I showed up in Brossard the next day, and I had a good workout. »

This return to strength perhaps also coincides with a directive from Martin St-Louis, who suggested to the players to “tighten it up” in front of the goalkeepers, according to David Savard.

“Goalkeepers feel like the spotlight is always on them, but we all have to take the blame when things don’t go well,” explained the veteran defender. Sam, he’s not alone during a match, there’s a team there in front of him. When things go wrong, it’s the whole team. »

At 28 years old, and in his fourth season with the Canadiens, Montembeault understands very well what it means to put himself in front of this net, and in front of these fans. He claims to stay away from the “noise” and the often not very thoughtful criticism that comes via social networks, but he finds that it is sometimes complicated.

“I try to avoid that, but I don’t want to, I sometimes end up stumbling upon what is being said about me. I try not to read this too much, especially the comments… we always want to do better, but we get criticized. It’s a big market, we already put a lot of pressure on ourselves, so we really have to put all that aside and concentrate on the next match, without thinking about everything that is said outside. »

At the same time, Samuel Montembeault admits that he has a goal in mind, and that he is keeping a discreet eye on the management of Team Canada, which will unveil its formation on December 4 with a view to the 4 Nations Showdown, which will be presented in February.

“The team will be named soon, and there are still games where I will have the chance to prove myself… Team Canada is a goal for me. But I have a lot of work to do to get there. »

Wool back soon

Everything indicates that Patrik Laine is getting closer to a return to play. The Finnish striker left with the rest of the club for a full training session on Wednesday in Brossard. In his case, it is a first tour of the ice with the whole group since this left knee injury suffered in the preparatory calendar during a match at the Bell Center on September 28. Laine, who wore a different color sweater to avoid contact, seemed rather comfortable during the various exercises on the ice, and Martin St-Louis confirmed that the big return is coming soon. “He’s getting closer,” the coach replied. I expect it will take him a little while to get back into it, but we don’t know how long. Is it going to be one game, two weeks? I don’t know, and we’ll see how things progress. »