The Montreal Canadiens received a bit of good news this week when their starting goaltender, Sam Montembeault was named to the Team Canada roster for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.
Canada's roster for the #4Nations Face-Off is set! 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/9W9lw6LR40
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 4, 2024
However, like a bad soap opera, there is rarely a day without some kind of controversy around the Canadiens. This time, it is being stirred up from outside the city with questions swirling around why Montembeault was added to Team Canada. Yet, the 28-year-old goaltender does have the pedigree to warrant such a position.
Team Canada Controversy
During a podcast with Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now, NHL insider John Shannon said that he believes that Hockey Canada’s decision to include the Canadiens’ starter might have been politically motivated. His reasoning? That Hockey Canada is politically motivated and that because there was no representation from Quebec, they had to add one player to the roster to cover that region. While more than half of the games of the Four Nations Face-off tournament are scheduled to be played in Montreal, that doesn’t mean there was a need or any consideration that went into having a Montreal Canadiens on the roster. Even if it were, there was representation on Team Finland (Patrik Laine and Joel Armia) and Team Sweden (Canadiens’ 2024 seventh-round pick Rasmus Bergqvist).
The host of the Edmonton-based podcast, David Staples, had argued against the selection due to the lack of star quality coming out of Quebec, despite some very good NHL talent currently available. Even arguing that Mackenzie Blackwood (San Jose Sharks) is a better selection, which is somewhat ironic as there was hope last season for the local Edmonton Oilers to trade for Montembeault to solidify their goaltending situation.
However, the longstanding language issue seen in Quebec is likely why Shannon felt that this was a politically-motivated selection. That would likely be the only reason he would feel Hockey Canada would need to play politics to placate an entire region. It is true that the Canadiens are a cultural touchstone for the Quebec culture, that they are expected to represent the French language as well, and selecting a Quebec-born player from their roster would definitely check off all the boxes.
Also, Canada is putting a team together they feel can win the mini best-on-best tournament, not to fulfil some language requirement. According to several well-placed sources, Montembeault’s selection being fill a political agenda is patently false.
Canadiens Goaltender Earned Position
Citing unnamed sources close to Hockey Canada, Marco D’Amico of RG.Org wrote that Montembeault’s French Canadian roots had nothing to do with his selection.
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“If this kid was from Ontario, he’d still be on the team. To watch people dissect this on the basis of politics is deflating for hockey and for that young man,” the source told RG.org. The same source highlighted the 28-year-old’s standout performance at the 2023 World Championships, where he posted an impressive .939 save percentage (SV%) and 1.42 goals against average (GAA), adding that Montembeault has been on the national side’s “radar for a while now”.
That’s confirmation the position was earned, not gifted. Something that should be remembered is that Hockey Canada tends to pass over players who have turned down playing for them in the past. Darren Dreger confirmed this on TSN690 when discussing the fact Canadiens’ start forward Nick Suzuki didn’t even get a call about being left off the roster. One of the sources scoffed, stating that they had seen fans and media alike blaming Montembeault for why Montreal didn’t finish even lower in the standings last season. Of note is that he had performed at a high level in the most pressure-packed NHL environment, Montreal.
The two Team Canada goaltenders selected above Montembeault are Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues) and Adin Hill (Vegas Golden Knights). Both have a .900 SV%, sport a 2.87 and 2.67 GAA respectively, and both are starters on better teams than the Canadiens at the moment. Likely also a major factor in the selections is that they are proven performers, having both won the Stanley Cup.
As for Montembeault, who backstopped Canada to a World Championship gold medal in 2023, has got a .906 SV%, a 2.86 GAA, and a record of 8-10-2 in 20 games, which includes three shutouts, the latest one coming on the heels of his addition to the Team Canada Roster. He is the starter on a team in a full rebuild. Because of this, he has the youngest, and most inexperienced blueliners in front of him of the three, and has somehow found a way to equal or outperform them statistically.
One statistic that can level the playing field somewhat among goaltenders is the goals saved above expected (GSAx). Hill is 11th in the NHL with a 5.6 GSAx, Montembeault is 15th in the NHL with a 5.1 GSAx. Lagging far behind them is Binnington with a 1.6 GSAx, placing him 32nd. It does look as though he fits right in with them on stats, international experience. and winning pedigree. It’s hard to look at their numbers and state that Montembeault was less worthy than his two counterparts.
