Montoya this year = Fleury last year?

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littleD

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Let me just start by saying I haven't seen much of Montoya. I'm going by the little bit I have seen plus what others have said on here.

A little too much pressure on these goalies? Fleury came into last years tournament, and a lot of people figured he would be Canada's saviour. Instead, he fought the puck many times during the tournament, and capped it off with a very unfortunate clearing attempt.

Montoya came in as everyone's pick for top goalie before the tournament started. Goaltending was supposed to be the strongest part of the US squad. Now he's let in 10(or 11?) goals in 3 games, including that absolutely horrendous goal from outside the blueline.

Is this some trend for highly touted goalies in this tournament or something? :dunno:
 

Levitate

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i think it puts a ton of pressure on the goalies when they have a great tournament the year before, and then they're expected to repeat that the next year. the team in front of montoya this year has played extremely weak as well, but he's obviously struggled at times.

basically the entire US team has played below expectations IMO...i don't know, at this point i'm starting to look towards the coach because the players obviously haven't been prepared for these games. they look like they lack a gameplan and are not ready to play each night, and that includes the goalies.
 

VOB

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I am not sure how Fleury played last year after he returned to the Q but he has certainly not been all that impressive in the AHL. It seems that a little bit to much stock is put into these tournaments in evaluating prospects.

Montoya had a fairly decent year last year, excluding the WJC, but was in no way dominant nor could he have been considered the best in the NCAA. Many who have seen him play in the NCAA this year have said "what's the big deal over this kid" because he has not looked all that well. I saw him play on three seperate occasions and came away shaking my head each time. He really hasn't disappointed me in this tournament because I did not expect him to do that well, considering how he was playing. He certainly hasn't been proving me wrong.
 

Hart_House_Ca

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Not quite. Montoya messed up when they had room to make mistakes. Fleury messed up when it mattered most.
 

VOB

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Hart_House_Ca said:
Not quite. Montoya messed up when they had room to make mistakes. Fleury messed up when it mattered most.


In my opinion, Fleury played like crap throughout that whole tournament last year. When he was asked to step up to the plate just once, he faltered. Seeing how Montoya has been playing throughout the year, I just can't see him stepping up to the plate either.

I do hope I am wrong though.
 

London Knights

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VOB said:
I am not sure how Fleury played last year after he returned to the Q but he has certainly not been all that impressive in the AHL. It seems that a little bit to much stock is put into these tournaments in evaluating prospects.

Montoya had a fairly decent year last year, excluding the WJC, but was in no way dominant nor could he have been considered the best in the NCAA. Many who have seen him play in the NCAA this year have said "what's the big deal over this kid" because he has not looked all that well. I saw him play on three seperate occasions and came away shaking my head each time. He really hasn't disappointed me in this tournament because I did not expect him to do that well, considering how he was playing. He certainly hasn't been proving me wrong.


I see MAF as an incredibly ego driven person. I think he got full of himself after going so high in the NHL draft and then playing the first part of the year in the NHL. His numbers were bad, but you can't blame that on him because he played well for a horrible team. Then he came back to play with the boys and he never seemed to be just one of the guys there. Every story was handled with a Crosby type feel except even more that he was the key to success always for the team. Then he went back to the Q and I think he supplanted a goaltender who was near the top of the league and played poorly.
 

Hart_House_Ca

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VOB said:
In my opinion, Fleury played like crap throughout that whole tournament last year. When he was asked to step up to the plate just once, he faltered. Seeing how Montoya has been playing throughout the year, I just can't see him stepping up to the plate either.

I do hope I am wrong though.


I think we all know montoya doesn't have what it takes to carry this team. If the americans were dependent on montoya to repeat they are clearly in big trouble now.

Last night, when i watched the game I was thinking does montoya need glasses, he seems a bit slow and bored.
 

TRask

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Hart_House_Ca said:
I think we all know montoya doesn't have what it takes to carry this team. If the americans were dependent on montoya to repeat they are clearly in big trouble now.

Last night, when i watched the game I was thinking does montoya need glasses, he seems a bit slow and bored.

I agree with the glasses, its an easy thing not to notice when ur eyesight degenerates at a slow pace. He seems to have trouble haldeling long shots. Hes a great when the pucks in close, but if i were an opposing coach, id tell my players to take good hard low shots from everywheres, cuase he seems to have a real problem with them...o
 

Enoch

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Montoya seemed to step up his game after he had given up the two quick goals. Unfortunately, the two soft goals he let in prior to tuning up were just flat out bad. Don't get me started on Cory Schneider........pitiful goaltending performance there :shakehead . Regardless, I think the US has the two best goaltenders behind them, and I suspect that this loss will only serve as a wakeup call to them.
 

Levitate

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i dont' think the 2nd goal was that bad...he could have had it, yes, but the guy had a breakaway/clear shot from in close. it wasn't all that soft
 

Hart_House_Ca

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bruins8152 said:
I agree with the glasses, its an easy thing not to notice when ur eyesight degenerates at a slow pace. He seems to have trouble haldeling long shots. Hes a great when the pucks in close, but if i were an opposing coach, id tell my players to take good hard low shots from everywheres, cuase he seems to have a real problem with them...o


The funny thing is, I wasn't the only one that said.. montoya might need glasses. A group of us watching the game suggested the same thing.

I do recall losing my eyes in my early 20s. Maybe montoya needs to get his eyes checked out.
 

MOGiLNY

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there's no comparison between Fleury and Montoya. Fleury had a stellar tournament, and only screwed up in the final game while Montoya has been screwing up in every game..
 

Don'tcry4mejanhrdina

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VOB said:
I am not sure how Fleury played last year after he returned to the Q but he has certainly not been all that impressive in the AHL.
Well, he just got his second shutout last night and has a 13-5 record. His 2.42 GAA and 91.2% SP are good, although not amazing, but he's winning.
By the way, Fleury never sucked this bad last year, he never let in a shot from outside the blueline, and that last goal would have never went in if Cobourn hadn't skated right where Fleury was shooting the puck and if Cobourn wasn't so tall. I think that last goal was just as much Cobourn's fault as it was Fleury's (I've seen goaltenders run out and shoot the puck like that all the time, sometimes it works, sometimes not). Get over it.
 

Lessy

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MOGiLNY said:
there's no comparison between Fleury and Montoya. Fleury had a stellar tournament, and only screwed up in the final game while Montoya has been screwing up in every game..

Fleury had been fighting the puck all tournament. Canada fans were hoping he would get his act together for the final game, and for the first two periods he was pretty solid. Montoya is known as a big game goaltender. He was very good in the third period against Russia. He faultered against Belarus possibly because he didn't expect Belarus to score, let alone Schneider getting pulled after 3 goals against. This will be a big game for him today against the Czech Republic.
 

Enoch

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MOGiLNY said:
there's no comparison between Fleury and Montoya. Fleury had a stellar tournament, and only screwed up in the final game while Montoya has been screwing up in every game..

Untrue. Fleury had a shaky tournament from the get-go. He just didn't need to come up big until the finals, where he didn't. Both goalies have struggled from the outset, and both have given up very poor goals.
 

Rabid Ranger

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MOGiLNY said:
there's no comparison between Fleury and Montoya. Fleury had a stellar tournament, and only screwed up in the final game while Montoya has been screwing up in every game..


That's not how the "experts" saw it. Fleury played behind an awesome team last year, and his stats benefited from that. He never looked comfortable though, and in the end he faltered. I agree that Montoya hasn't looked good as a whole, but he's had his moments. A key issue has been the defense in front of him, which pales in comparison to what he had last year. These guys are clueless (Jeff Likens!). for the U.S. to have any chance against the Czechs and beyond, both Montoya and the defense will have to improve drastically. I don't know if they have it in them.
 
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Frenzy31

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Fleury had been fighting the puck all tournament. Canada fans were hoping he would get his act together for the final game, and for the first two periods he was pretty solid. Montoya is known as a big game goaltender. He was very good in the third period against Russia. He faultered against Belarus possibly because he didn't expect Belarus to score, let alone Schneider getting pulled after 3 goals against. This will be a big game for him today against the Czech Republic.

Montoya struggled in the 1st two periods in the Russian game. Two of the goals were questionable. 3rd period, he saw a lot more action, and his play was greatly improved.

He may be a big game player, but not in this tournament. He has not looked good. Neither of the goalies have looked good. He doesn't look comfortable at all in net and is making the easy shots look difficult.

You can put the blame of the D for coverage issues, but you NEED TO STOP THE LONG DUMP IN SHOTS. There is no bigger way to take the steam our of a team then by letting in weak goals on a consistent basis. He has not made that big game breaking save as of yet. He isn't playing a well as he did last year. Every time the opposing team has a good scoring opportunity they are scoring.

Now, you can't judge how he will be playing 5 years from now from one tournament. 1 Tournament will not make a carear, but to say he is playing OK and that his inability to stop the puck is the D's fault... well that would be a misguided statement.
 

ZombieMatt

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I was going to start a post asking the same thing.

Both are extremely good goaltenders who really seem to be letting their team's down this early. MAF sucked, but still won every game he played last year until the final.

Montoya is fighting the puck big time. He looks rattled, lost, whatever. Even when he makes the save, he looks very awkward doing it.

But that said, Montoya hasn't lost the big game yet, so we'll see.
 

Papa Smurf

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Reilly311 said:
I don't remember Fleury winning a gold medal in 2003. :dunno:
That is completely irrelevant to what this topic is about. :shakehead



As for the topic, you can't compare a goalie who is having a difficult tounament to a goalie who had a stellar tounament with a last minute choke job.
 

Mess

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Matt MacInnis said:
I was going to start a post asking the same thing.

Both are extremely good goaltenders who really seem to be letting their team's down this early. MAF sucked, but still won every game he played last year until the final.

Montoya is fighting the puck big time. He looks rattled, lost, whatever. Even when he makes the save, he looks very awkward doing it.

But that said, Montoya hasn't lost the big game yet, so we'll see.

The WJC usually leave a lasting impression as it gives scouts and prospect fans alike a good chance to see the top prospects against their own piers ... The WJC is usually one of the biggest events that raise or lower a prospects stock in the eyes of the viewers ..

I bet if anyone was doing a TOP 50 prospect list including HF that Montoya would not be Top 20 and possibly not make the list at all, with the current impression he is leaving in the Tourney.
 

Enoch

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Canadian_man said:
That is completely irrelevant to what this topic is about. :shakehead



As for the topic, you can't compare a goalie who is having a difficult tounament to a goalie who had a stellar tounament with a last minute choke job.

But Fleury did not have a stellar tournament with a last minute choke job. He was weak from game 1....Did you not watch the tourney last year or are you looking at the stat sheet? It was very evident that he was playing poorly from the get-go, not just in the US game.
 
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