I met Steve Montador sometime in early 2000’s around the Salt Lake 2002 Olympics. He was playing for the Calgary Flames, dating a very good friend of mine, and was a teammate of Marty Gelinas. Marty was my training partner at the time and we used to train under James Gattinger at a gym in Father Bauer Arena in Calgary. I will never forget the first day I met Monty, he walked into the gym with two different coloured black dress socks on and appeared like he had a pretty good time the night before.
After Marty and Gatts proceeded to give him a hard time about his less than cool gym attire, it was time to train. Monty was raw, a big guy and super strong. I remember that day he easily benched over 300 pounds several times. What struck me most however, was his gap toothed smile and his easy going and kind personality. To me at the time he seemed like a boy in a man’s body. He had an innocence about him that was endearing.
Over the years, we became friends and trained together, spent some time socially hanging out and skating in the summers. I remember well one summer night Marty had Monty and I over for a BBQ at his house to celebrate all the hard work and just hang out as our families were all out of town. Those were some of the best times of my career, sharing day in and day out with those guys.
Around that time, I don’t really know when or how, things got tough and Monty decided he needed to get some help. He kind of disappeared for a while. The next time I saw him he asked me to jump into his truck for a bit for a chat. He told me that he had been to face some of his demons and that part of his journey was to reach out to his friends. He just wanted me to know. I told him I was proud of him and I was always there if he needed me. I knew he lived life pretty fast, but at that time I really didn’t know many details. I didn’t know how those demons haunted him then and how they continued to haunt him for years.
Marty took Monty under his wing. Marty was an amazing mentor and big brother for him and as time went on, it began to really rub off positively on Monty. Known to hit it pretty hard in the early days of his NHL career, Monty began to take training seriously and start to take better care of himself. He became super fit and dedicated and seemed happier. Anything he decided to do, he did in a big way. Double-edged sword.
Fast forward to somewhere around 2007, I had the opportunity to work with Andy O’Brien who was trainer of the Florida Panthers at the time. Marty was traded to Florida, then Monty went. Soon I was spending some time there training and working with Andy. It seemed we all naturally followed one another.
Monty lived with Marty and his family for about 6 months and we visited a few times. Those were happy times and I know Monty was so grateful to have Marty and Jane there as his support system. We often talked about the influence Marty and Jane had on him and how much respect he had for them. Marty and I also talked about how much of a great guy Monty was and he just needed a little direction and structure in his life to stay on track.
Between Andy and Marty, I don’t think Monty could have had two better role models. They helped Monty to invest and have confidence in himself again, to take better care of himself and take training seriously. That is just what he did. He committed himself to conditioning and training and living a healthy lifestyle. He was more talented that most people know.
The four of us started a training camp in Vail the summer of 2007, led by Andy, with a small group of NHL guys including Gregory Campbell and Stephen Weiss. That camp is now about 7 years old and includes about 20 top NHL players. Those were great times and we had lots of laughs and fun times despite the hard work.
The times I spent with Monty were always filled with lots of laughs, ridiculous antics and total unpredictability. They were also filled with lots of ups and downs as we both had our own struggles that we shared with one another.
In 2011, one of my very good friends was struggling with addiction. We were scared he would hurt himself and decided we needed to do an intervention. The first person I called was Monty. Right away he helped guide me to a top treatment center, and arranged it for no cost. He is now three years sober. Monty helped save his life. That was who he was - heart of gold.
I would see him from time to time, usually when we were both in Toronto at the same time. Usually we would meet for a workout at U of T, or lunch and mostly ended up having very deep interesting conversations. He was not just a hockey player. He was a thoughtful guy, with lots of layers and he was highly intelligent. When he went to the KHL I got an email with the tag line ‘From Russia with love.’ That said it all.
After his most recent concussion, I recall a long conversation we shared about how he was struggling to feel good. He was unsure of his career and sought to delve deeper into his charity work with Right To Play, and both our interest in medicine and training. We also talked a lot of life after hockey, relationships and finding peace. I could see in his eyes and feel the pain he was going through.
We had a special bond, maybe because I was a pro athlete and understood the hockey world, but I was a woman and wasn’t technically ‘one of the guys,’ so he felt he could open up and that I would ‘get it.’ We talked about very deep things like depression and struggle quite often. I could relate as I have had a lot of issues like depression and addiction creep into in my own family. I was worried about him and would check in often to see how he was doing.
Last Wednesday I was checking something on Facebook, (which I rarely do) and the first picture the popped into my feed was Monty. It was almost like a sign and I something told me to check in, so I sent a text ‘hey how are ya?’
I didn’t hear back.
Yesterday, having breakfast in Kamloops preparing to give Dylan Armstrong his Olympic bronze medal, I got a text ‘Did you hear about Monty?’ My heart immediately sank and I knew. Right away I texted Marty and within ten seconds he called me back in shock. A few minutes later I called Andy and asked what had happened. He said Monty had been in the gym all last week and seemed to be ok but he was worried about him.
I loved my friend Steve very much, he was in many ways like a brother to me. Someone who I cared about deeply and who I often worried about like I would for a little brother. I think when someone dies so tragically like this and so young, it hurts so many people. I know Andy and Marty and all who knew Steve are hurting so much right now and wishing we could have done more to help our friend ‘Monty.’ We don’t know yet the reasons for his death, but I have a hard time thinking he hurt himself. I do know however that living a hard and fast lifestyle can take a horrible toll on the body.
I had the honour to spend some time with Steve’s family tonight, in his own home. The only photo of himself in his entire house was one of him holding Marty’s youngest daughter. That’s who he was to me. A charismatic and caring soul with many layers, but who would give anything for someone he cared about.
Dear Steve, I know you have been restless for so long and slowly trying to find your way and helped so many along your journey. No need to worry anymore. Rest in peace. We will all take care of things here for you. You truly touched my life.
h

The tough call the Bruins face with Zdeno Chara


MARK SPECTOR FEBRUARY 17, 2015, 9:38 PM
EDMONTON — They are a declining power, these Boston Bruins, the prime example of a team running out of gas under the National Hockey League’s cap system.

It’s not their fault, really. It’s just the way things work now.

From a Stanley Cup winner in 2011, to a Cup finalist in 2013, to clinging to eighth place in the East in 2015. The Bruins are now ‘that team,’ wondering if there is a way to turn around the trend, some strategy that so few others have discovered.

Wednesday, the Bruins are in Edmonton to face a 29th place Oilers team that returns home from a six-game Eastern road trip to play its seventh game in 12 nights. Boston’s top prospect — goaltender Malcolm Subban — is up and ready for his first NHL start. In past years this one would have been a no-brainer.
Today? Not so much.

Watch Boston vs. Edmonton live on Sportsnet, Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET.
“I haven’t sat down and talked to (GM) Peter (Chiarelli) yet, to see how we’re going to move forward,” head coach Claude Julien said Tuesday. He would have made this call in his sleep even a season ago. “I think it’s important that we make a decision as a group, because of where we are. Whether we have out best goaltender, the guy we’ve been riding, or whether we go with Malcolm.

“It needs to be a group decision here.”

This is where the Bruins are, calling an organizational meeting over whether to give Subban a start on guaranteed win night. Why? Because guaranteed win night does not exist anymore for Boston, who watched a 3-0 lead evaporate Monday evening in Calgary, after a 5-2 loss at Vancouver three nights before.

The Florida Panthers are just four points back in the East, and suddenly these two points in Edmonton hold much more value than having a peek at Subban in his first NHL game. The road trip ends with visits to St. Louis and Chicago. The Bruins HAVE to win in Edmonton.

So the question becomes, even if Boston hangs on to make the playoffs, then what?


Zdeno Chara turns 38 in March, and has become to the Bruins what Jarome Iginla was to the Calgary Flames: that ageing superstar whom the Bruins need to make the playoffs for the next couple of seasons, but whose value will then slip to the point where any trade return on him is negligible.

History shows that the Calgary Flames should have dealt Iginla two years before they did. Instead, the Flames missed the playoffs in both of Iginla’s final two seasons in Calgary, then settled on two middling prospects — Ben Hanowski and Kenny Agostino — and a first round pick (Morgan Klimchuk) in a trade from Pittsburgh.

Of course, Chiarelli’s dilemma runs deep. There isn’t a GM in hockey — and he’s one of the best, IMO — who would submit to this obvious trend and deal Chara now. Not with a playoff spot still a very real possibility.

But the decline has begun, and here’s why we are mighty sure that the Bruins are not Detroit, a team that has bucked the trend: Look at the Bruins drafting record since 2007, and you’ll find the answer to why their opponent tonight has fallen on such hard times. It’s why Calgary is rebuilding. It’s why the Canucks are no longer an elite contender. And it’s why the Maple Leafs are as bad as they are.

Boston, an organization that once drafted and developed extremely well, has hit the skids on that front since 2007. The year before, in 2006, Boston drafted Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand, who have played a total of 1,215 NHL games. From 2007-2012 (we won’t count the past two seasons), the 37 players drafted by the Bruins have played a grand total of 960 games. Tyler Seguin, now in Dallas, accounts for more than one-third of those games.

There is a dearth on this roster between the age of 26 and 20. Torey Krug, Reilly Smith and Dougie Hamilton are all good players, but not enough to fill the void. Then Johnny Boychuk was dealt for a pair of second round draft picks, and this summer Chiarelli will be in cap jail again — but now with an eighth place team that doesn’t scare anybody anymore.

The trade deadline is looming, and the Bruins could use a right-winger and a Top 4 defenceman. But they’ll have to decide — and this is the crucial question, isn’t it? — whether it is wise to further borrow from the future with draft picks and prospects, to buttress a lineup that is merely holding on today.

They’re in Edmonton Wednesday and it’s going to take an organizational meeting to decide whether to start the backup.

Doesn’t that answer the question?