On Monday, the teams participating in the 4-Nation Showdown held their first training session, and Montreal Canadiens netminder Samuel Montembeault was on the ice with his team of Canada teammates.
Samuel Montembeault’s Team Canada mask.
Sebastien Gervais
Everyone noticed his new gear when he stepped onto the ice, including a great new mask painted by Sylvie Marsolais. Of course, it features the Team Canada Maple Leaf, but it still features an aggressive Canadian beaver on one side and another net-bound one on the other.
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This backstop is a throwback homage to the mask he wore with the Springfield Thunderbirds in the AHL when he was in the Florida Panthers setup. Back then, the popular Simpsons character Milhouse was linked to the net, as he was in the episode Mullet on Ice. Running around Springfield, having a cartoon Simpson on his bucket made sense.
As for his gear, the pads, catching gauntlet and blocker are red, black and cream. If he sees little of it during the tournament, let’s hope he does better with his red pads than Carey Price did when he was rocking his bright red ones.
After practice this morning, Team Canada’s goalie explained to the press what it meant to him to be selected to challenge for his country:
I’m very proud to be here. I’ve gone through a long road. I wasn’t always part of the top goalies; I was picked up on waivers. I was part of a three-goal rotation … to be selected as one of the top three makes me very proud.
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Whether he can play a game or not, being part of the team will allow him to spend ten days with players like Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Nathan Mackinnon. Getting shots at such talented players, even if it’s just in the game, will be valuable experience for the 28-year-old goalkeeper.
Canada kicks off its tournament on Wednesday in the heat of the moment by taking on Sweden at 8 p.m. and will play a second game in Montreal on Saturday when it faces Team USA at 8 p.m. Its third game will take place in Boston against Finland at 1 p.m. on Monday, February 17. If Canada qualifies for the final, it will play the championship game on Thursday at 8 p.m.