Texas Tornado Have Presence In Ottawa Senators – Winnipeg Jets Game
By Kirk Estes
When the puck dropped in Ottawa as the Ottawa Senators hosted the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday there was a Texas Tornado flavor to the game.
Texas Tornado
The Texas Tornado were represented by Winnipeg netminder Al Montoya, Ottawa netminder Ben Bishop and Senators forward Stephane Da Costa. This was the second time in their NHL careers that Montoya and Bishop have stood 178 feet from one another. The Texas Tornado are the only NAHL team to ever have former goaltenders oppose each other in a NHL game and now it has happened twice.
Their first meeting came on March 5, 2011 when both were with previous teams. In that contest Montoya and the Islanders prevailed 5-2 over Bishop and the St Louis Blues. Saturday was a much closer affair as the Senators fell to the Jets 1-0 on a deflection over Bishop’s shoulder at 5:57 of the third. With Montoya making 33 saves in the shutout and Bishop making 36 saves in the loss they were named the number one and number two stars of the game.
Da Costa nearly figured in the scoring as well. At about the mid-point of the first period Da Costa went sprinting up the ice on a breakaway and made a bid to go stick side, but Montoya made a blocker save to keep the Senators off the board.
Douglas Jones-USA TODAY Sports: Former Texas Tornado and current Winnipeg Jets goal tender Al Montoya
Montoya made his debut with the Tornado during the 2000/01 season as a 15 year old, in just the second season on the ice for the Tornado. As the back-up to Brandon Crawford-West that season Montoya played in 15 games putting up a 10-3-0 record. As he had in the teams expansion season, Head Coach Tony Curtale led the team to a division crown and then on to the first of their five Robertson Cup National Championships. Montoya played one game in the post season picking up the win allowing two goals with a .920SV%.
In spite of his young age, Montoya’s play caught the eye of USA Hockey and in the 2001/02 season he moved on to the US National Team Development Program for his final season in the NAHL. Following his two seasons in the NAHL Montoya spent three years at the University of Michigan before starting his professional career in 2005.
| Level | GP |
MIN
W
L
OTL
SO
GAA
SV%
Tornado
15
780
10
3
0
0
2.92
0.891
NAHL
39
2,124
16
14
4
0
3.31
NCAA
123
7,246
86
29
8
13
2.36
0.978
Minor Pro
197
10,606
96
72
7
9
2.68
0.904
NHL
59
3,290
23
17
10
3
2.75
0.906
Like Montoya, Ben Bishop played a single season with the Texas Tornado in 2004/05. It was Bishop’s only season in the NAHL before heading off to the University of Maine. Bishop was between the pipes for 45 regular season games for the Tornado, winning 35 with a 1.93GAA and a .920SV% both of which are good for second in team history for goalies who have played more than five games. Bishop led the league with 35 wins, was second in shutouts with 5, second in goals against average at 1.93 and third in save percentage at .920. His efforts earned him a position on the NAHL All-Rookie Team. Bishop was the winning goalie in the 2005 NAHL All Star Game.
Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports: Former Texas Tornadl and current Ottawa Senators goal tender Ben Bishop
In the playoffs that season Bishop put up a very impressive 10-2-0 record with a 2.58GAA and an .897SV%. It was the second of the Texas Tornado’s three consecutive Robertson Cup National Championships since moving to Frisco, TX and Head Coach Tony Curtale’s third with Texas and fifth overall.
| Level | GP |
MIN
W
L
OTL
SO
GAA
SV%
Tornado
45
2,577
35
8
0
5
1.93
0.920
NCAA
98
5,607
55
34
7
5
2.27
0.917
Minor Pro
175
10,260
91
68
10
9
2.59
0.913
NHL
25
1,264
7
10
3
1
2.71
0.903
Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports: Former Texas Tornado and current Ottawa Senators forward Stephane Da Costa
Stephane Da Costa came to the Texas Tornado from the French National Team for the 2006/07 season as a 16 year old. Da Costa played a total of 15 games with the French team during three World Junior Championships scoring 32 points on 12G-20A. During his single season in the NAHL with the Tornado, Da Costa was second on the team in goals scored and third in points.
The Tornado were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs that season by the eventual Robertson Cup National Champion St Louis Bandits. In the playoffs, Da Costa had 3G-4A in 10 games.
The following season, Da Costa was drafted by the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL where he would finish out his junior career. After two seasons with Merrimack College, Da Costa signed a free agent contract with Ottawa and played four games with the Senators to close out the 2010/11 season.
| Level | GP |
G
A
PTS
PIM
+/-
Tornado
50
23
17
40
31
USHL
99
43
61
104
45
-3
NCAA
67
30
60
90
83
+12
Minor Pro
77
22
38
60
22
-5
NHL
29
3
2
5
8
-10