A 3rd place vote at the Vézina for Samuel Montembeault

Dose
Crédit: Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Samuel Montembeault had a great season for the Habs. Despite some mid-season lows, he took his team to the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

Yes, Jakub Dobes gave Montembeault a break in the second half of the season with some good performances, but it was the Québécois goaltender who took charge.

This evening, we learned that he had received a 3rd place vote for the Vézina Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s best goaltender.

Unsurprisingly, Connor Hellebuyck took top honors with 31 of the 32 first-place votes.

Andrei Vasilevskiy and Darcy Kuemper rounded out the podium.

Note that general managers vote for the Vézina Trophy, not journalists.

Montembeault was the 4th most-used goalkeeper last season, with 60 games played. He maintained a 31-24-7 record with an average of 2.82 and an efficiency percentage of 0.907.

He didn’t have the best statistics, but it was clearly his attitude in front of the net and his late-season performances that earned him third place.

He’s worked very hard since being taken in the Habs’ waivers. He’s become a sure thing in front of the net, as we saw in the playoffs when his absence hurt the Habs.

But does that mean we should give him a third-place vote? It’s debatable, but it shows that his performances are respected throughout the upper echelons of the NHL. I can’t wait to see what kind of season he’ll have next season.

Overtime

– Excellent start to his career.

– He practices hard so he doesn’t slow down.

– Files to follow.