Montoya goes 4th Overall

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - With the 4th overall selection in the CLUTCH Season 5 Entry Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers are proud to select, from the University of Michigan in the NCAA, goaltender Al Montoya.

Flyers management was thrilled when they found out that the top goalie prospect Al Montoya slipped to the 4th overall position in the draft. Montoya is a native of Glenview, Illinois and has the potential to become one of the best goaltenders to be drafted in quite a while. Montoya is a flashy goaltender, who is solid on his skates and has good lateral movement in the crease. Montoya plays a hybrid butterfly style, and is very sound in his positioning and reads angles well. He is a strong puck handler who likes to start the play for his defensemen. He has excellent reflexes and is agile enough to make difficult, acrobatic saves look routine. If he has a weakness it is that he can be too aggressive playing the puck in the corner or moving up to challenge a shooter which can, at times, put him out of position. He does have a great deal of confidence, which allows him to bounce back after allowing a bad goal.

After finishing up his final year with the U. of Michigan, Montoya is looking forward to playing on the PhillyJR team and contending for the Calder Cup. With the two young goaltenders on the Pro team it is obvious that Montoya will have not as much pressure on him knowing that the team will be patient waiting for him to grow into a future starter for the Flyers.

Montoya's junior season at Michigan was his final year playing collegiate hockey. In 40 games, Montoya had a record of 30-7-3 and save percentage of .895. He appeared in goal in 6 playoff games, compiling a record of 5-1, with a GAA of 1.67, a Save % of .912, and 1 shutout.