- Al Montoya lost his coaching debut at the Amerigol LATAM Cup and did not care one bit
- The NHL’s first Cuban American called the day “something special” with his mother and son on hand
- Read below for Montoya’s full quotes and how Team Cuba talked him into the job
Al Montoya lost his coaching debut Saturday and walked off the bench grinning anyway.
The first Cuban American to play in the NHL ran the Under-12 Cuban American squad at the Amerigol LATAM Cup, which opened its eighth year at the Florida Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs. His group dropped a 4-3 decision to a team of select players of Caribbean descent. The result was not the point.
Speaking with William Douglas of NHL.com afterward, Montoya put the afternoon up against everything he did as a player.
“I’ve been a part of a lot of great teams, but this is something special. I felt like I was at a Cuban family dinner here with all the emotions that you feel on the bench in the 60-minute game.”
Two people in the building made it land harder. His son, Henry, scored in the first period. His mother, Dr. Irene Silva, watched from the stands after making the trip from Cuba to the United States in 1963.
Her presence was the part Montoya could not put into words.
“Having my mom here, having the one that made the journey from Cuba to America so we could pursue our dreams, there’s really no words for it.”
Silva had her own read on why her son said yes. “I’m very proud of him,” she said. “It’s quite a thing to do because he loves Cuba, even though he wasn’t born in Cuba.”
Team Cuba president Arnold Cuervo landed him with a direct message on Instagram. The program announced the hire back in May:
Cuervo explained what a name like that does for a program still building an identity.
“The first Cuban in the NHL and all the barriers that he broke, it’s absolutely amazing to have him be a part of this. To have The Big Cubano on our side is a huge advantage, just because of who he is, and it validates what we’re doing.”
New York took Montoya sixth overall in 2004. He played 168 games across six franchises between 2009 and 2018, finishing 67-49-24 with a 2.65 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. Two of those seasons came with the Panthers, which made Saturday a return to an old building.
These days he works as vice president of cultural growth and strategy for the Dallas Stars.
More than 1,500 players from 16 countries and territories are entered in the LATAM Cup, which runs through Aug. 9 at the IceDen and the Palm Beach Skate Zone in Wellington. Algeria, Armenia, Pakistan, Venezuela and Indigenous and First Nation tribes all have teams in it.
League and union money funds the event through the NHL Industry Growth Fund, created in the 2013 CBA. Both sides are working off a record revenue year.
Check out opening day at the IceDen:
Before he left the rink, Montoya handed the credit to the people who built the thing.
“The people who assembled Team Cuba, the LATAM Cup, and the NHL and NHLPA being behind it and supporting, this is what it’s all about.”
That has been the LATAM Cup’s pitch for eight straight summers.
