Former Checker Montoya Wins AHL Weekly Award

Published on January 4, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The American Hockey League announced that former Charlotte Checkers and current Hartford Wolf Pack goaltender Al Montoya has been named the CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week after going 3-0-0 with two shutouts in three road games.

Six of the 12 weekly winners in 2006-07 have been former ECHL players. In addition to Montoya, ECHL players to win the award are former Roanoke and Wheeling and current Manitoba left wing Jason Jaffray (Oct. 30), former Wheeling and Idaho and current Portland center Zenon Konopka (Nov. 13), Former Alaska and Las Vegas and current Peoria left wing Charles Linglet (Dec. 4), former Jackson and current Chicago center Cory Larose (Dec. 18), former Jackson and current Hershey left wing Quintin Laing (Dec. 26).

Charlotte is the ECHL affiliate of the Wolf Pack of the AHL and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League.

The ECHL has affiliations with 24 of the 27 teams in the American Hockey League in 2006-07 and for the past 17 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup champion. The ECHL has had more players called up to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined each of the past four seasons with 1,646 call ups involving almost 1,000 players.

Selected in the first round (sixth overall) by the Rangers in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, Montoya registered his first shutout of the season by stopping all 20 shots in a 2-0 win at Worcester on Dec. 26 and made 20 saves in a 3-2 win at Bridgeport on Dec. 29. He closed out the week making 28 stops in a 2-0 win at Portland on Dec. 31 to lower his goals-against average to 2.48 which is seventh in the league.

In his rookie season in 2005-06, Montoya was 1-1-0 with a goals-against average of 3.92 in two games with Charlotte and 23-9-1 with a goals-against average of 2.61 and a save percentage of .907 in 40 games with Hartford.

Other nominees for the award were former Jackson and current Chicago center Cory Larose, former South Carolina and current Hershey center Joey Tenute, former Alaska and Pensacola and current Lowell left wing Chris Minard, former Charlotte and current Manchester goaltender Jason LaBarbera, former Hampton Roads and current Peoria center Trent Whitfield, former Long Beach and current Providence left wing T.J. Trevelyan, former Gwinnett and current Toronto right wing Brett Engelhardt and former Fresno and current Worcester goaltender Thomas Greiss.

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