QA with Brock Montpetit

If Waterloo Black Hawks center Brock Montpetit keeps it up (and there's no indication he won't), he should be able to follow in some successful footprints this June. In 2008-09, Craig Smith, in his third year in the USHL and in his third year of draft eligibility, ramped up his two-way, physical game and scored an impressive 28 goals and 48 assists in 54 games, finishing second in USHL scoring. Forty games into 2009-10, Monpetit had tallied an impressive 22 goals and 27 assists, which would project to 33 goals and 41 assists for the season and which figures to place him in the top five in USHL scoring at the end of the year. The 6-foot-0, 190-pound Smith translated his season into selection by the Nashville Predators in the fifth round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. The 5-foot-10, 187-pound Montpetit may give up a couple inches, but he has every bit as much speed and quickness as Smith, plays with a physical edge like Smith, and has slightly superior stick skills and a level of consistency that rivals laws of physics. Smith has gone on to a successful freshman year with the University of Wisconsin, and there's no reason Montpetit shouldn't do the same for Nebraska-Omaha, now coached by the man who just helped Team USA win the World Junior Championships (Dean Blais). If Craig Smith goes early in the fourth round of the 2009 Draft, then it figures to reason that Brock Montpetit will/should be selected somewhere in the late rounds of the 2010 Draft.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey was able to talk with Brock Montpetit after a game in late January. Montpetit discussed his development into one of the top players in the USHL, his youth hockey in Wisconsin and other locales, his being cut by the USNTP and playing for Shattuck St. Mary's, his original commitment to Wisconsin and his new commitment to Nebraska-Omaha, and his prospects for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

McKeen's: To start off on a positive note and a fairly recent note, you were named to play for Team East in the USHL All-Star Game, an honor you're definitely very deserving of. When did you find out you'd been named to that, who told you, and what was your reaction?

Montpetit: I found out about a week and a half ago by my parents, actually. My mom kind of checks those things every now and then, and she gave me a call and told me. So, that's how I found out. I was pretty excited. It's always an honor to play in an all-star game no matter what league you're in. It's a lot of fun and a great way to get exposure.

McKeen's: Tonight, I don't know how things went for Omaha, you were tied with Erik Haula for fourth in league scoring, and you've had seven games where you've had three or more points. You've been impressive in both of your seasons leading up to this, but you've definitely taken it to the next level this year. So, what have been the differences for you this season?

Montpetit: I think it's just maturity. The first two years, I think I just tried to do too much and trying to be more of a flashy player. This year, I've taken on more of a leadership role in kind of showing the younger kids how to work hard and try to get the puck to the net. Like coach has been preaching for the past two years, get the puck to the net and move your feet and goals will come and good things will happen. That's my big focus this year and it's really helped out.

McKeen's: Going back to October, you had five points in eight games, which obviously isn't the scoring pace that you're on now. What was happening at that point and what have been the keys, and you touched on this a little bit, to igniting your offense to that extremely high level?

Montpetit: I think it's just kind of getting used to the players that are here. Personally, I like getting used to players I'm playing with on a line and on a team and kind of getting used to everybody on the team. I think I'm just used to playing with Tyler Barnes and J.T. Brown. Those two really helped me get the points in setting me up and scoring goals when I get them the puck. They're a big help with me. Now, Derek Arnold is on my line, and he's been a big help, too, the last couple games.

McKeen's: Yeah. Derek's starting to get some goals finally. It's not like he can't score, but it was just like they weren't coming. Going back to the beginning of this year, some might have said you guys were in a "rebuilding year," but you guys have really been reinserting yourself into the playoff picture, particularly with Chicago and Youngstown sort of struggling. What has helped you guys turn things around and help put yourself back into that playoff picture?

Montpetit: I think it's mostly an all-around team effort. Our top guys have been getting the points that we need, out of me, Brown, Barnes, and now Arnold's starting to score, and the younger guys are figuring out what hard work is in the USHL. It's not (pauses), it's a different story than the NAHL and Triple-A hockey, and they're really starting to figure it out and moving their feet and playing how coach O'Handley really wants us to play, and that's really boosting us up and we're kind of boosting up them. So, it's kind of an all-around team effort.

McKeen's: What areas of your game do you feel you've improved upon the most in your almost three years in the USHL and what are the areas that you still feel you need to continue to focus upon going into college hockey and then pro after that?

Montpetit: I think my biggest one this year is consistency. I've been coming in night in and night out and consistently getting points for the team. That's a big thanks to my linemates and the team, but consistency is a thing that everyone needs to work on. If you can bring it night in and night out, that's what NHL scouts are looking for. Other than that, I think the maturity. Being a third-year player, I guess it kind of slows down and you make smarter decisions with the puck and you're not that cocky younger kid that thinks he's on top of the world. So, those two are my biggest reasons for my success this year.

McKeen's: That's kind of what Matt Leitner told me earlier in the year. He made the point that after three years, it slows down each year and "at this point, I know what I'm looking for." For those that haven't seen you play, what would say are the strengths of your game and the style that you play?

Montpetit: I think a strength would be my skating, I guess. Speed and balance. I've been working on that since I was a little kid, and it's really been the biggest asset to my game. Coach O'Handley preaches to me every day that I've got to use my speed and get into the corners and get low and beat guys wide. Other than that, I guess stickhandling is another big thing that I like to work on. I guess those two are my biggest assets.

McKeen's: You combine all three well. I remember one point tonight you were going down the wing and were getting hounded by three people, basically going through the gauntlet, and it didn't really seem to phase you. Obviously it's a good thing when your mind can focus on assessing the play and the rest of your body can operate independently.

Montpetit: I guess that's the football side of me from high school, back in public school, but I guess it kind of transfers over. Being a multi-sport athlete, things carry over and kind of help my game a little bit.

McKeen's: That overall athleticism, it helps to have it. Going back, I think about four years, you had the opportunity to play with the Development Program, but you decided instead to play for Shattuck. What made you decide to decline that invitation and to play at Shattuck?

Montpetit: Well, actually, I got invited to the tryout for the national team and didn't really have the tryout that I really wanted to and didn't get the invite. But, I ended up at Shattuck, which is an amazing place to play. I loved it there, everything about it. I guess the schooling was a little tough, a little tougher than the public school I came from. That was kind of the hardest thing about it. But, coach [Tom] Ward and the whole program is amazing. Just looking at the players coming out of there, it's an amazing program. There's always that "what if," what if I would have made it with the National Program, all those what-if questions. But, I'm happy where I ended up and happy where I am now.

McKeen's: I would say it's turning out alright for you. You committed verbally to Wisconsin after your sophomore year in high school in Wisconsin. Obviously, today, you're committed to UNO (Nebraska-Omaha). Tell me about that process of first committing to Wisconsin, then the interim, then no longer being committed to there, and then making the change to UNO.

Montpetit: Well, I guess, around my sophomore season playing Wisconsin high school hockey, they started talking to me. I went there on an unofficial visit, loved it. Wisconsin has unbelievable facilities, probably one of the best in college hockey, if not the best. I guess I was like a kid in a candy store, being a 15-year-old kid walking into the Kohl Center, it's the greatest thing in the world, especially being from Wisconsin. But, once you grow older, I guess, your mind can change. I really don't want to get into that, a whole long story, but decommitted from Wisconsin last year and kind of wanted to look around more. I didn't know anything about any other schools. I went on a visit to Northeastern out in Boston, talked to a few more, ended up going on a visit to Nebraska-Omaha and met with Dean Blais, and coach [Mike] Hastings. I liked it there. It seemed like a nice place, a nice fit for me, and that was my biggest thing. It wasn't hockey tradition or anything, it was where I could see myself playing the next four years of my hockey career, and I really like what UNO had to offer.

McKeen's: I think you have a fair shot at being an impact player for UNO fairly early. They may not have the hockey tradition some schools have yet, but they do now have coach Blais and coach Hastings, and they'll be in the WCHA. Did that factor into it at all, or how much excitement does that create for you?

Montpetit: Coach Blais just won a World Junior Championship with Team USA, so that's a big plus. He's an amazing coach. Everything I've heard about him, and the meeting I had on my visit and everything, I loved what he had to say. He was straightforward with what he wanted from me, and I liked it. He wants to challenge me, and that's what I want out of it. Yeah, I guess I could go in there with a big opportunity, but like any freshman going to any school, I have to earn it. I think UNO is a great place for me to kind of step up and be a good player in the WCHA.

McKeen's: Two seasons ago, Billy Maday made what I considered to be a pretty strong push in his third year of eligibility to be drafted. He wasn't, but I think he'll sign a two-way contract in the NHL in the end. Last year, Craig Smith surpassed what Billy did and he was drafted by Nashville. Here you are in your third year of draft eligibility, and having a pretty dang good year. So, do you still have hopes of being drafted and what do you think it'll take for NHL teams to pull the trigger on you?

Montpetit: Well, yeah, I have hopes of being drafted. It's every hockey player's dream, any athlete's dream, really. It would be an absolute honor for an NHL team to draft me and have that confidence in me to be in their program someday. But, I just take it one day, one game, one practice at a time where I need to show up everyday and prove to them every time they're here that I'm worthy of playing in the NHL someday and worthy being a part of their program.

McKeen's: To your knowledge, have NHL teams expressed interest in you, and a semi-related question to that, do you have a family advisor?

Montpetit: Well, the NHL, they're kind of quiet about everything from what I've seen. But, I haven't talked to anybody or anything. I don't know if our coaches have or anything. But, my advisor is Dan Plante out of, I guess, Northwest Sports now.

McKeen's: If I were a director of amateur scouting advising my GM on draft day in Los Angeles this summer, what are some reasons I should consider drafting Brock Monpetit?

Montpetit: That's a tough question. I don't know. I think I have the competitive edge that a lot of players don't have. I come to the rink every day wanting to get better. It's really the want that makes the player who he is. Some kids are godly gifted and they don't need to touch a weight in their life. They can be an amazing athlete and some need to work for it. I'd say, myself, if I'm not here that early, someone else is, working that much harder. So, I guess my work ethic, and someday hopefully they can show me the way along with my work ethic to play at that level.

McKeen's: I remember way back in the day when Chris Pronger was drafted, I'm not sure how old you would have been then, not too old, but he didn't know what the weight room was too much, and Joe Thornton, kind of the same deal. It's like, that is crazy.

Montpetit: Yeah, exactly.

McKeen's: To be that good… Now, obviously, they've hit the weights since then. Going back to the beginning of your hockey career, when did you first start playing hockey and how did you get that start?

Montpetit: I think I was around three. I think I started at three in a learn-to-skate program and four was my first hockey. I hated it. We had an outdoor rink only, back when I was that young. Zero degrees on ice when you're four years old isn't where you want to be. But, my dad kept me in it. I guess I started to love it. We got an indoor rink when I was six or seven. Coming from a small town you don't really have those big, nice indoor ice facilities. But, yeah, my parents have pushed me the whole way. It has its ups and downs like everyone else. They've been pushing me ever since. I really credit the whole hockey thing to them.

McKeen's: I suspect maybe it was the same organization all the way up, but for what organizations did you skate for in your youth at the different age levels?

Montpetit: I started out with the Somerset, Wisconsin, youth hockey, just our youth association, playing teams from around Wisconsin and Minnesota. I started my Triple-A hockey with the Minnesota Jr. Stars, around, maybe, eight to ten years old. Then, a Triple-A team started in my hometown, the Wisconsin Fire. I played with them for a while. There was a Triple-A program in the summer as well that I played for my hometown. From there, I went and played with the Minnesota Blades' 1990 Triple-A team. Since I lived eight minutes from Minnesota, I guess I kind of grew up as a Minnesota kid. But, from there, it was in between the Blades and the Fire, playing back and forth between the summers and winters with both teams. From there, I had a few stints with some Canadian Triple-A teams, the Saskatoon Huskies and the Vancouver Vipers, back in my defensive days. Then, from there I played Wisconsin high school with Somerset high school, two years there, my freshman and sophomore year. I went to Shattuck St. Mary's my junior year, and then got drafted by the Waterloo Black Hawks and came here my senior year and I'm still here.

McKeen's: You said your defensive days, sounds like there was a position change in here at some point. When did that happen?

Montpetit: Well, I was really big for my age. When I played with 1990 teams, I played defense, because I was the biggest kind on the ice. I guess I've been 5-10 since about sixth or seventh grade, really. When I'd play older with 1989's, 1988's, and even 1987's, I'd play forward. So, I guess I can credit that to a big part of my game. I like to consider myself a two-way player, and having that defensive background in there really helps.

McKeen's: It gives you an all-around understanding of what your defensemen will be doing or at least should be doing.

Montpetit: Yeah, exactly.

McKeen's: Tell me how it was you ended up playing for the Canadian teams.

Montpetit: I guess I got scouted by a website called hockeyscoutingdb.ca, I think. I think they saw me on there and I got a call one day with the Vancouver Vipers saying, "Hey, we kind of want to expand our team a little bit, we'd love for you to come play with us." So, I went up there and played in a tournament in Saskatoon, a 1990 summer tournament, and the Saskatoon Huskies were in that tournament. They saw me play with Vancouver and said, "Hey, want to come play with us for a tournament next month?" So, I went over and played with them, and why not?

McKeen's: (Chuckles) Lastly, who were some of your favorite players in your youth and why and who are some favorites today or, if this isn't the same, players you feel you're similar to or would like to equate to?

Montpetit: I guess when I was younger, I loved Mike Modano and Joe Sakic. I don't really know why. I guess like every other little kid, they were the best players in the NHL and I just thought they were cool. Now? I guess don't have a favorite player. I just like to watch a game and learn from it. I guess, I've heard I play like Peter Forsberg from numerous people. I watch Jonathan Toews, and I can see some of the stuff that he does in my game.

McKeen's: I would agree, particularly this year in the USHL, with the Peter Forsberg thing. You bring physicality, even physicality with the puck. I always got a kick out of Forsberg. I remember sometimes he'd come with the puck, flip it into the guy in front of him, level him, take the puck back, and then go to the net.