Olympic Hopeful Montour Already On School’s Podium 

Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour will have quite a few people rooting for him next week when he heads to Team Canada’s orientation camp in Calgary ahead of selections for the country’s 2026 Winter Olympics squad.

Among them is LeeAnn Chamberlain, a former teacher of 38 years at Tilbury Area Public School in Tilbury, Ontario, a town of 4,600 where Montour lived and attended classes from first through eighth grade. Montour played hockey with Chamberlain’s son and daughter and remains close with the family.

Two summers ago, he contacted them seeking ideas on the best way he could help do something for his former school. They told him they’d think it over and came up with the idea for a Learn to Skate program.

“We tried to think of ideas that would benefit the most kids,” Chamberlain said. “So, we said to Brandon, ‘You know, we don’t have a skating program here anymore. You guys used to be able to skate with your class, but now we can’t do it anymore because you have to have helmets and we can’t provide those and a lot of families can’t afford them.’

“So, I told him maybe we could get some used skates together and he could get us some helmets and then maybe we could start something up again,” she said. “And he told me, ‘Oh, I can get you more than helmets.’ ”

Montour helped arrange 50 sets of not only helmets, but skates and gloves as well through a National Hockey League Players Association Goals & Dreams initiative providing equipment donations to grassroots hockey organizations.

The NHLPA announced this month that the Goals & Dreams program had donated roughly 1,000 sets of equipment worth more than $700,000 to 50 organizations in 10 countries during the 2024-25 season. Roughly a third of the donations involved 13 players giving back to their communities, including Montour’s initiative with Chamberlain in Tilbury.

And last November, during the defenseman’s first Kraken season, the school launched the “Brandon Montour Skating program” for about 120 third and fourth graders at the Tilbury Memorial Arena. Chamberlain retired last summer but said she and her daughter offered to plan and keep administering the program, which runs in separate three-week blocks for each grade, while active teachers are out on the ice supervising and working with the students.

“We went from having a majority of kids on one side of the ice that couldn’t skate at all to only a handful of kids at the end who were using the skating aids,” said Kristen Fenlon, who taught Montour in eighth grade and is now, along with colleague Julia Geddes, one of two teachers primarily running the on-ice program. “Everybody was skating and talking about it. Kids asked for skates for Christmas and parents took them public skating. It really helped revive their interest in skating and hopefully in hockey too.”

Fenlon said she and her students keep close tabs on Montour’s play with the Kraken. Two of his signed NHL jerseys hang above the entry to the school’s gymnasium as well as an autographed photo from when the Anaheim Ducks drafted him in the 2nd round in 2014.

The school also had a large cardboard cutout of Montour in hockey gear placed on the ice during the Learn to Skate classes for students to skate around.

“We definitely highlight all the special things that happen for him around here,” Fenlon said. “And we’ll be following him along as he tries to get to the Olympics, that’s for sure.”

Montour, who is spending time with his family ahead of attending Team Canada’s camp next week, said he loved the Learn to Skate idea because he remembers growing up playing hockey at the school and wanted students from the area to have the same opportunities.

“It’s been great for them,” Montour said. “And they’re obviously excited to be able to have all of that equipment again.”

And he hopes to give them some Team Canada progress to follow in coming months as well. Next week’s camp won’t feature on-ice workouts and is more a chance for the 42 invited NHL players to get to know one another and coaches.

“The opportunity for the NHL and the players to be back in the Olympics is huge,” Montour said. “And to just be recognized and be a part of the 40 or so players going to the camp is also huge for me.”

Montour had his first international experience with Team Canada playing under current Kraken general manager Jason Botterill and president (hockey operations) Ron Francis back at the 2019 IIHF World Hockey Championship. But Montour played only one game before injuring his knee and wasn’t really part of the silver medal performance that followed.

It wasn’t until this past spring, with the Kraken not in the playoffs, that he got another Team Canada shot at the world championships after a stellar season in which he set a club record for goals by a defenseman with 18. Canada went 6-0-1 in preliminary round play but were eliminated after surrendering two goals in the final 2:17 of regulation against host country Denmark in a shocking 2-1 quarter-final loss.

“The results weren’t there in the end, but obviously you’re excited to play with that group,” Montour said. “So, I took advantage of the opportunity, and I thought I played well.”

Montour had two goals and seven assists for nine points in the eight games, tops among Canadian defenders, while finishing with a plus/minus of +5. That was good enough to earn him next week’s orientation camp invite among an incredibly strong group of defense candidates that already saw Cale Makar added to the preliminary roster and has Aaron Ekblad, Josh Morrissey, Thomas Harley, Evan Bouchard and Noah Dobson, among others, vying for spots as well.

Kraken goalie Joey Daccord was invited to next week’s Team USA orientation camp as well while fellow netminder Philipp Grubauer is already on Team Germany’s preliminary roster.

Final rosters don’t need to be submitted until January ahead of the mid-February tournament. So, Montour will focus mainly on getting the Kraken off to a strong start on an upgraded roster with its blueline bolstered by free agent signing Ryan Lindgren.

“For me it’s just about leading our team in Seattle and helping our team get to where we want to be early on,” Montour said. “And if that happens and they want to take me for the Olympics that would be fantastic, but there’s a lot of work still to come for me to get invited to that team.”

And a lot of work ahead this coming school year for the Learn to Skate program he helped his former teachers get started in his name. Chamberlain said students, teachers and the school district are eagerly awaiting the program’s second year and to see whether their favorite NHL player can make the Canadian team.

“All the kids that skated made him ‘Thank You’ cards and this summer I was at his house for a party, and I brought them to give to him,” Chamberlain said. “So, he’s got a lot of Kraken fans here at the school now and we’ll be watching closely to see how it goes during the season and with the Olympics.”