Glenview Native First Cuban-American in NHL as NY Islanders' Goalie

Al Montoya is proud to be a Cuban-American — the first to play in the National Hockey League — but his sports upbringing is definitely classic All-American.

The Glenview native, now a goalie with the New York Islanders, played a little bit of everything growing up. He might have soccer practice in the afternoon, then after a quick break Montoya would don the padding of a goalie to play at in the evening, having started his on-ice career with the youth program and coach Myles Gottainer.

Somehow he squeezed in a youth baseball career and freshman football at Loyola. If he wasn’t toughened by both the physical contact and managing his hectic schedule, nothing would have done it.

In the end, he developed the mindset of a goalie — all armored up with pads and a facemask. You have pucks flying at 100 mph-plus and bodies desperate to score, crashing into you.

“My athleticism was a little bit above the kids my age level,” Montoya, now 26, said in a recent wide-ranging phone interview from Long Island, where the Islanders are based in Uniondale.

“I always kind of shouldered it, wanted it. I wanted that pressure, I wanted (to be) that last line of defense when there was going to be a mistake made, I have the opportunity to (stop) it. I had that from an early age.

Trading football for hockey

“After my freshman year, I said enough was enough. I started skipping football practice to concentrate on hockey. That’s how I wanted to make a living. Football was enjoyable, but I always wanted to be involved in the play. There’s too much of a lull in that game. That’s why I love it (fast-paced hockey action).”

Montoya had a No. 1 booster in mother Irene Silva.

“My mom always told me to have confidence in myself, never gave me a hard time about hockey,” he said. “It took her 10 years to learn the game. It was simple in that I didn’t have to hear from a parent instructing me on hockey. I could just go to the rink, have fun and enjoy my game.”

Behind every top pro is a mom who was a combo chauffeur-public relations person. Silva is all of that — and more. As a longtime internist with a practice in Chicago, Silva could minister to both physical and mental hurts of her son. And he’s come out better than anyone could have ever expected.

“Al was an incredible soccer player,” Silva said. “He was a superstar in sports. He was born with an incredible gift. One season he was on three soccer teams and hockey. In baseball, he was a catcher. I never worried about injuries except football. We’d be at ice rinks before 5 a.m.”

In Islander games through Sunday, Montoya was 6-5-3 with a 2.43 goals-against average and .918 save percentage. But those stats numbers might be secondary to the continued thread of his all-American story — that of immigrants coming here for freedom, and the pride of the dual identity of the old and new countries.

Family left Cuba after Bay of Pigs

Silva emigrated with father Manuel Silva after the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, two years after Fidel Castro took power in Cuba. As landowners, the Silvas had to leave their possessions behind and start over here, in classic style. Each new ethnic group coming over marks a first in their profession. For Montoya, it’s playing hockey.

“I’m extremely proud to be the first Cuban-American to play in the National Hockey League,” he said. “Whatever I can do to spread the word throughout the Hispanic community is a little thing I can do. It really makes you feel good about yourself you’re doing something for them.

“Just being able to talk to people is great. I’ve done quite a few interviews in Spanish this year. People had never been to a game ‘till they saw me on Univision.”

Montoya was one of four boys, speaking Spanish in a home near Glenview’s ice rink.

“Their Cuban roots, they’re very proud,” said Silva. But she’s equally proud of oldest son David, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. Al is No. 2 in the pecking order, followed by twins Marcos and Carlos Montoya.

Al Montoya already has lost two games to his hometown Blackhawks. Their top scorers have his undying respect. But he’s taught himself to not hang crepe over losses and wash them out of his memory quickly.

“When you play the Blackhawks, there are no secrets,” he said. “You respect the whole team. No matter who you are, first line, fourth line, you have a hard shot.  No secret who the studs are. There are so many games, if there’s a guy I’m concerned about, I’ll ask an older guy who might have played with him. I try to stay fresh.

"For me, it’s keeping it simple. You know they have all those weapons. My job is to take care of that first guy. They’re creative, they’re going to make those extra passes other teams don’t make.

“It’s (success) focusing on the now. Who knows what’s next?”

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