Al Montoya: Why Never a Starter?

[Andy6]

He played 35 games with a .909 save % and a 2.60 GAA. That's great?

He wasn't great with the Jets. He was as mediocre as every other goalie the team has tried.

 

[Poulin 0n My St1ck]

DP was done at that point, his injuries made him barely backup level. His last great game in my opinion was when he stonewalled the Penguins to stop Crosby's 25 game point streak.

I remember at that point the fans, including myself, really turned on DP to the point that we in the stands chanted Al Montoya's name during a game vs the Caps. It was embarrassing for DP for sure and I believe the Isles players rallied around him to either comeback and win or make it close I forget. EDIT: It was in 2011, Isles were down 2-0 after the first and won 5-3. Then there was the game he just sucked vs the Canes that featured a very loud DP sucks chant.

Rick is one of the best guys IMO to come around the Island in the 2000's as far as loving LI and the Islanders, joined MSG as an analyst and is terrific in it still covering the Islanders and looking back it was a mean thing but a necessary one as he was just plain done.

And, if I recall correctly, he stopped the Pens on a 6-3 in the waning minutes of the game when we had 2 guys in the box and the Pens had an extra attacker for the pulled goalie. That was definitely his last hurrah, and a very memorable one.

Ricky was fun to watch when he was on.

 

[Menzinger]

He's certainly better than Pavelec, and was better than DiPietro on Long Island.

Jets coaches/management just seem to be terrible an evaluating goalies. Neither of those guys are legit starters at the NHL level

 

[tony d]

He's among the best backup goalies in the league. That said his talent's not enough to be a #1.

 

[Kevin27NYI]

He started off playing incredibly well his second season. Then got a concussion and his play suffered the rest of the year because of it.

That's correct, Kane ran him over. Wow, forgot about that.. he was doing very well then.

And, if I recall correctly, he stopped the Pens on a 6-3 in the waning minutes of the game when we had 2 guys in the box and the Pens had an extra attacker for the pulled goalie. That was definitely his last hurrah, and a very memorable one.

Ricky was fun to watch when he was on.

Kunitz speared him in the groin too, was more fuel to the fire at the time before the brawl.

 

[Snakepit]

Just another in a long list of goalies that can play great for short periods of time but you can't rely on for an entire season. Chad Johnson is another current guy like that that springs to mind

 

[airbus220]

Just another in a long list of goalies that can play great for short periods of time but you can't rely on for an entire season. Chad Johnson is another current guy like that that springs to mind

Or Holtby, watch him now.

 

[SatanwasaSlovak]

Because he isn't that great of a goalie?

 

[XX]

Consistency issues, like every other goalie that has the skills to be a starter but doesn't.

 

[Leafs87]

Some goalies just can not play the amount of games needed to be a starter

Pretty much sums up Reimer. He's legit an elite backup. I don't follow Montoya regularly but I'm assuming something similar can be said about him

 

[ShootIt]

He was shaky his first year with the Panthers but had a strong second season last year.

Was surprised to see the Panthers not re-sign him, but I guess they wanted a tad more proven guy in Reimer.

Good backup that can have stretches of good games and then bad games

 

[hurricanedave]

He played 35 games with a .909 save % and a 2.60 GAA. That's great?

Where'd you get your numbers from? His stats with the jets are 35 games with a .916 % and a 2.41 GAA care of hockey reference. Looks like you just split the difference between his two seasons... That would be a silly way of getting an average.

 

[IamNotADancer]

Let me say this as a Ranger fan. I was hoping Lundqvist und DiPietro would be an epic goalie battle for the ages in New York. Unfortunately for the Isles DP was made out of glass and injuries just took it's toll.

To compare Montoya to a broken DiPietro just tells me that you are not aware of Rick DiPietro's injury history.

Montoya is at best a serviceable Backup. I do however remember a guy on the Rangers board who was infatuated with Al Montoya and believe he was absolutely better than Henrik Lundqvist in his prime. I really wish I could find those particular posts because they were great comedy then but would be an instant classic today.

 

[Shakey Rustie]

He wasn't that great here in Winnipeg... Off the top of my head, I'm not even sure if he ever started more than 3 games in a row during his tenure with the Jets.