Whether or not that conversation included a briefing about the pleasures of lake effect snow is unclear.
Tweet from @MontourBrandon: Oh boy! Have to start getting back in the swing of things! 😂 pic.twitter.com/7FXsh9TsBE
Trading the California sunshine for a scene from The Day After Tomorrow is one of several adjustments for Montour, whose hometown of Brantford, Ont. is just a 90-mile drive up the QEW from Buffalo. He spent a day off on Wednesday grabbing a rental car and visiting the mall for winter apparel.
Then there's the on-ice learning curve, which Montour had little time to prepare for ahead of his team debut in Philadelphia on Tuesday. He met the Sabres about two hours before their game in Toronto on Monday, skated as a part of a small group the next morning and later had a brief pregame video session.
With that, he was off.
"It's one of those things where it's just a hockey game," Montour said. "A little different, but I thought as the game went on it got a little better."
Montour said he felt OK in his debut, admitting to a couple of "boneheaded" plays that come with the learning curve of playing on a new team while also showcasing the skating and passing ability that should make him an asset on the Buffalo back end moving forward.
There were give-and-go plays through the neutral zone:
There were chances in the offensive zone:
And there were quick passes in transition, including this play under pressure that led to a goal for Casey Mittelstadt:
"Hockey is hockey, but like I said, coming into new systems, it's one of those things where I'll adjust as I go here," Montour said. "But my mindset as I go here is to carry on with what these guys are doing right now, bringing my strengths to the team and helping out as best as I can.
"What I've got here is they're building for something special, and I'm excited to be a part of that."
Off the ice, Montour is expecting to be a vocal presence for a young team given his playoff experience in Anaheim. He played 21 playoff games in two seasons on a roster filled with veterans who have been regulars in the postseason throughout their NHL careers.
"I want to be a vocal guy and feel like I can be a leader - obviously, we have a bunch of young guys - and share my experience that I've had with older guys in Anaheim," he said. "We've had a lot of veteran players over the years and I think I can carry that into this dressing room."
Sabres coach Phil Housley spoke highly of Montour's demeanor following his first practice with the team on Thursday.
"I just really like his attitude," Housley said. "He's got a smile on his face, he loves coming to the rink, he enjoys playing the game. I just love the speed element of his game. Very tenacious, he attacks the game really well, he wants to make a difference out there, so it was good to have him in a practice and just to get acclimated to the city and his teammates. He's been a breath of fresh air."
The Sabres lost in Montour's debut, 5-2. They'll look to rebound in his first home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, needing to go on a run if they're to erase an eight-point deficit in the standings over the final month of the season.
"The experiences that I've had in the past, there are ups and downs," Montour said. "It's not going to be straight to the top, so you're going to have those adjustments and days you'd like to have back. For me, you lose a game, you've got to wash it. "You've got to come back the next day and start all over.
"I think that's a big thing. It's a long season. At this point, we're eight points back, so a little bit of a hill to climb but there's an opportunity to do some big things in the next [19 games]. Take each game, game-by-game and we'll see what we can do."
