Samuel Montembeault had a tough season, and most of it was due to not being in the right mindset, something the Montreal Canadiens' goaltender has now fixed.
To say that Samuel Montembeault had a tough season would be an understatement. The Montreal Canadiens’ netminder started the season as the team’s number one goalie, hoping to make Canada’s national team, but finished it on the sidelines watching two rookies man the Habs’ net.
Speaking to the media on the Canadiens’ post-mortem day, the Becancour native admitted that he was treated fairly by the organization and that the communication with him was great throughout the year. He was told about Jacob Fowler being called up ahead of time and was never blindsided by the Habs’ brass.
Asked if he had turned over a new leaf and was ready to move on from the Canadiens, he explained:
No, I still have a year left on my contract, and I’m not the one calling the shots. What’s important for me now is to have a good summer and be ready for next season. We’ll see what happens when it does.
As for what was the root cause of his issues this season, he replied:
I think I didn’t arrive with the right mindset. I was putting too much pressure on myself, and when things started to unravel, I was in my head too much. As a goalie, that might be the worst thing you can do. […] I was coming into the game overthinking. I wasn’t going into the games knowing I could make the difference with big saves. I was thinking about “Oh, I must not get scored on”. When you approach games like that, you can’t expect things to go well.
The netminder made the most of his free time, though. He says he’s in the best shape of his career now, and since he hasn’t played again, he feels like his summer training has pretty much started. Mentally, he said he was well supported from Christmas when he started consulting a sports psychologist and working with Marco Marciano.
Despite being stuck in yet another unwanted threesome, Montembeault said the atmosphere was great and that all three goalies got along very well. Clearly, he doesn’t know what the future holds, but if he’s still in Montreal come next season, he’ll be ready and willing to do everything he can to help his young teammates, just like he did this year and through the playoffs, even though he would have liked to see some action.
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