For 15 years, the Montreal Canadiens had their number one goalkeeper, Carey Pricewho became the franchise’s winningest goalie.
However, his time guarding the net at the Bell Centre is over, leaving his spot in the blue paint open for someone like Sam Montembeault claim.
Since joining the Canadians from Florida Panthers Through a waiver claim on October 2, 2021, Montembeault became Price’s heir apparent, having played in the most games, 119.
As Montreal and Montembeault prepare for the 2024-25 season and the start of their new four-year deal together, here are seven fascinating stats about the 27-year-old.
The winningest Canadiens goalie to wear number 35
The Canadiens have employed 89 goaltenders in their history, including seven masked men wearing the number 35. Amazingly, the first goalie to don the jersey was famed “Habs Killer” Andy Moog, who wore the numbers for a single season in 1998.
When Montreal selected Montembeault off waivers from the Panthers, he changed his number from 33 to 35, and he has worn it for the past three seasons.
Although the competition for the record for wins with the jersey was slim, Moog had the best statistics with an 18-17-5 record. After the 2023-24 season, Montembeault has a 40-52-18 record with No. 35, making him the best goalie to wear the jersey.
No decision in only career appearance against Montreal
After 144 NHL games, Montembeault has played for all 32 teams, including the one he currently represents, the Canadiens. March 26, 2019he came for James Reimerwho allowed three goals on six shots in just 14:28 of ice time.
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Montreal will win 6-1, with Montembeault conceding three goals to Artturi LehkonenPhillio Denault, and Max Domi to finish the night with a SV% of .833, making 15 saves on 18 shots.
Difficulties in games facing more than 40 shots
During his two seasons with the Panthers, Montembeault never faced more than 38 shots in a game. Since arriving in Montreal, he has faced more than 40 shots in a game 22 times.
With an overall record of 49-60, it’s no surprise that he has an 8-12-2 record in games where he’s overworked. While he has a 4-3-1 record in games where he faces 45+ shots, he struggles to handle a workload between 40 and 45 shots, with a 4-9-1 record.
Still looking for a first victory against five franchises
As previously mentioned, Montembeault has skated against all 32 teams, earning at least one win against 27. Heading into the 2024-25 season, he is still chasing that first exclusive win against five teams: the Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Ottawa Senators, Las Vegas Golden Knightsand Canadians.
While it would be difficult for him to get a win against Montreal these days, he will have the opportunity to play against the other four teams at some point during the season. Montembeault will try to improve his records against Calgary (0-2-0), Carolina (0-5-1), Ottawa (0-3-0) and Vegas (0-1-2).
There are more matches with six goals conceded than matches with one goal conceded.
Montembeault has recorded one shutout in his career, against the Buffalo Sabres on February 23, 2022, at the Bell Centre. On 10 other occasions, he lost his shutout attempt by allowing only one goal.
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Interestingly, the Quebec native is only 5-4-1 in games where he allows just one goal. But that’s not the only crazy statistic when it comes to his goals-against total.
In 144 games, Montembeault has allowed more than six goals 11 times, posting a record of 0-10-1 in those games. His worst performances include eight goals conceded, with five games of seven goals.
40th goalie born in Quebec in the history of the Canadiens
Quebec has produced some of the best goaltenders in the sport, including Jacques Plante, Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur. Over the course of 107 seasons, the Canadiens have employed only 40 goalkeepers from Quebecincluding Montembeault.
With his 40 victories, he ranks 14th in the list of Quebec goalies with the most victories, ahead of Paul Bibeault (41) and Denis Herron (43), Richard Sevigny (67) and Jocelyn Thibault (67) to climb into the top 10.
His best career statistics came at the 2023 World Championships
After playing a career-high 40 games in 2022-23, posting a 16-19-3 record with a .901 save percentage and 3.42 goals-against average, Montembeault headed to Latvia to represent Canada at the IIHF World Championship.
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As the country’s No. 1 goalie, he helped Team Canada win its 26th world title, allowing just 10 goals in seven games for a 1.42 GAA and .938% goals-against percentage, ranking among the top goaltenders at the event.
Until then, Montembeault had never produced an SV% higher than .918 (AHL) or a GAA lower than 2.86, the totals he produced in the AHL in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
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