GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Al Montoya had this late summer Saturday
in his sights for quite some time.
And not just because alma mater Michigan had a big matchup at
No. 2 Notre Dame.
No, the aspiring New York Rangers goalie had his own game to
worry about, a morning hockey scrimmage at a practice rink in
Westchester County.
When you're a 21-year-old former first-round draft pick coming
off shoulder surgery, your first game in training camp is a very
big deal.
"I've been practicing a lot, and it was nice to get out there
for my first day ... feel like a game-like situation," Montoya
said. "I felt good overall."
That wasn't the case in April while playing for Hartford in Game
5 of the first round of the AHL playoffs. Montoya reached to cover
a loose puck, spun around and fell awkwardly. The result was a
season-ending left shoulder dislocation that halted a very
successful first pro season.
The closest Montoya got to the NHL -- except for backup bench
duty during a callup -- was occupying the operating room immediately
before Jaromir Jagr was wheeled in for surgery to fix a similar
shoulder problem.
He didn't see his more famous teammate that day and didn't feel
like a warmup act for the surgeon.
"After I got out of the thing, he went in," Montoya said
Saturday. "It was good."
And all was still positive Saturday when his repaired shoulder
got its first real test. He made about a dozen saves in one period
of the first of two scrimmages the Rangers held on the second day
of training camp. Montoya was kept out Friday and couldn't wait to
show that he was healthy again.
"It is one step in the process," he said. "I just wanted to
go out there and feel good, go out there and play my game because I
know what I'm capable of doing. Just stop the puck. It definitely
feels good but there are a lot more days ahead of me."
The only blemish in Saturday's performance was a penalty-shot
goal scored by Hartford teammate Nigel Dawes, who found the net a
few times during the day.
"He owes me," Montoya said. "I got him going."
New York chose Montoya with the No. 6 pick in the 2004 draft, a
selection made while current Rangers coach Tom Renney was director
of player personnel and oversaw the entire amateur scouting
operation.
Montoya returned to Michigan and won 30 games during the NHL
lockout. He signed a three-year deal with the Rangers last summer.
"We went through the first year, and he knows pretty much the
way with technical stuff and everything," goaltending coach Benoit
Allaire said. "He'll just get better and better."
The success continued at Hartford as Montoya went 23-9-1 with a
2.61 goals-against average in 40 games. His season was interrupted
twice, first when he broke his finger in practice in November and
missed 12 games, and again by a groin injury in February -- causing
a five-game absence.
"Looking at him today, it looks like he's come back in even
better shape than he was last year," said Jim Schoenfeld, the
Hartford coach and general manager. "He's a goalie that has some
very exceptional raw talent but you have to be technically sound in
the position to excel as well, and he has made giant strides in
that department."
While he continues to improve, all he has to do is look around
and see the attention that Henrik Lundqvist gets to be reminded the
Rangers already have a young goalie in place for the foreseeable
future.
Lundqvist, 24, burst onto the New York scene last season and
grabbed the No. 1 job in his rookie year. He was a finalist for the
Vezina Trophy, given to the top NHL goalie, and was the first
Rangers rookie netminder to win 30 games (30-12-9).
"I don't think young guys should ever be disappointed at having
to chase some taillights," Renney said. "I think there is a
standard of how to play the position ... we want to raise the bar
with every one of our goaltenders.
"If it so happens that Henrik is the guy that sort of
identifies with that standard first and foremost and for a longer
period of time, that's fine. I think that always serves as
motivation."