Montour: Celebrating, Then Anticipating

Honoring an unparalleled tradition, when an NHL team wins the Stanley Cup, each victorious player and select staff member gets an individual summer day to celebrate and share the oldest trophy in North American sports. The trophy was first awarded in 1893 and there is only one, prompting long-time “Keeper of the Cup” and Hockey Hall of Fame employee Phil Pritchard to once write, “You don’t win the Stanley Cup, you borrow it.”

The Cup has crisscrossed North America and Europe, scaled mountain tops, and been placed poolside among the many stories Pritchard and Cup-keeping colleagues could tell. Wednesday, Kraken free-agent defenseman Brandon Montour took the Cup to Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, Canada’s largest First Nations reserve by demographics, with more than 27,000 members and another 13,000 who currently live on the land. The six nations include Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora. The highly-anticipated local parade, predicted to be 10,000 to 15,000 attendees by local officials, clocked in at more than 20,000 people.

“It's been crazy,” said Montour early Wednesday evening with his wife, Ryian, alongside.“We're just about to head into our little private family and friend party, which is not small but we're excited.”

Montour, who is of Mohawk descent, grew up during his younger days in Ohsweken, a town within the reserve before relocating to play juniors for USHL Waterloo (IA). Despite the throng on the parade route, the Kraken defenseman said he saw plenty of familiar faces.

“Most definitely,” said Montour. “The reserve is still a smaller, little town. It was easy to pick out and point to people we knew. It was really cool.”

The minutes-eater, offensively-productive defenseman celebrated for roughly a week with his Florida Panthers teammates while awaiting a weekend parade at the beach in Ft. Lauderdale, then signed with the Kraken during the first hour of NHL free agency the next day, July 1, before heading to Mexico for a relaxing week.

Next on the busy calendar: Former Anaheim Ducks teammate and 2024 Cup Final opponent Adam Henrique co-hosted the fourth annual Henrique Montour Golf Classic last Friday with more than 216 participants to raise money for the Henrique Montour Foundation dedicated to help fund local youth desiring to play team sports but don’t have the family means. As part of the foundation work, Montour has visited other First Nations reserves in Canada to identify youth players in need to pursue hockey and other team sports. Henrique and Montour attended the same high school (not at the same time, four years apart in age) but became close in Anaheim.

Next was Wednesday’s emotional and historic Cup day. Now, whew, Montour can focus on the Kraken and the next chapter of his upwardly mobile hockey life.

“Every time I'm there [playing at Climate Pledge Arena], it’s so loud,” said Montour. “You see how excited people are about this team. I've been thinking how cool it is to be part of a newer organization. Florida's not new, but it was the first time to win a Stanley Cup—and how much that meant not just to the fans but everyone that's been around the organization. To do that again, and do it with [the Kraken], that's the goal.”

Seattle fans will no doubt appreciate that sort of anticipation from Montour, who has heard from plenty of excited new teammates through texts and phone calls. Montour’s last two seasons with Florida, which included two trips to the Stanley Cup Final, have been the D-man’s best in all zones. He led all Florida teammates in minutes played during the regular season (more than 23 minutes) and ranked second (22 minutes-plus), trailing only playoffs MVP contender D-man Gustav Forsling.

The 30-year-old D-man has unlocked his offensive production and skill set in the last two of his 10-year NHL career (with stops in Anaheim and Buffalo), highlighted by 16 goals and 57 assists for 73 points during the 2022-23 regular season and adding eight goals and five assists in a 2023 postseason in which Florida won the Eastern Conference. Plus, Montour was a major contributor to the Florida power play over the last two seasons, notching four goals and a whopping 46 assists as the “quarterback” on one Panthers unit.

Montour’s 2023-24 regular season numbers were affected by shoulder surgery three days after the 2023 Cup Final. He didn’t return to the Florida lineup until late November, finishing the season with eight goals and 25 assists in 66 games, then adding three goals and eight assists in the playoffs. There is reason to be hopeful Montour can elevate his points production now that the shoulder has fully healed and there is no restrictions to his summer prepration for the season ahead.

“All summer and right into training camp, it was just rehab [last summer],” said Montour. “I didn't have time to actually train ... I didn't start skating until the second week in training camp. I couldn't shoot a puck until that time as well.”

Montour said the injury and rehab timeline tested his patience, but he knew rehabbing the right way would ultimately get him back to a fully repaired shoulder. When the calendar rolls to early August next week, Monsour is ready for focused and hard training/skating for the upcoming season with Seattle.

“I'm gonna start amping it up,” said Montour. “I'm getting pretty jacked up and excited to do it again. I'll start skating and amping things up.”

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