"Our whole team identity is based on puck pressure and puck possession," Montgomery told USA Hockey's official website. "We practice that way and we play that way."
His team's numbers offer proof. Denver ranked second in the nation last season in shot attempts (Corsi) close last at 59.2 percent and were top ten the two seasons before that. And those numbers have paid dividends. Denver has been among the top scoring teams in the nation the past two seasons and the stingiest in goals against, leading the nation in 2016-17.
Denver was strong on special teams as well. The Pioneers ranked 13th nationally on the power play (22.1 percent) and eighth on the penalty kill (85.2 percent), scoring twice as many power play goals as they allowed (38-19). It didn't' hurt that Denver was one of the least penalized teams in college hockey.
Special teams and cutting down on undisciplined penalties are part of what Montgomery calls "the process," a list of objectives for his team having success. It's all about details, little things that can add up to success. He outlined the process for his University of Denver team in an article for thecoachessite.com.
1.50 hits in a game
2. Win 60 percent of our faceoffs
3. Give up three or less odd man rushes
4. Commit to blocking shots
5.Win the special-teams battle
6. Win the net-front battle
7.Take zero undisciplined penalties
Hit four of those objectives and his team is probably going to win. Five or six and they win handily.
"I settled on these seven because they give the team a clear understanding of what to do when it comes to the small details of the game, and it will lead to big results," Montgomery told thecoachessite.com. "When we have big games coming up, it's simple, we stay in the moment and we think about our process. If our details are good, we're going to give ourselves a really good chance at successful outcomes."
That list and some of the target numbers could change for an NHL team, but the principle stays the same.
"The process gives us a foundation of what our house should look like," Montgomery explained. "If we tidy up those areas of our house, people are going to like what our house looks like on the ice."
Montgomery played four years at the University of Maine, where he put up some impressive offensive numbers (103 goals, 198 assists in 170 games) and was teammates with NHL Hall of Famer Paul Kariya and former NHL goalie and current New York Islanders GM Garth Snow and captained the national championship team in 1992-93. He played 12 years professionally in the NHL, IHL, AHL, and Europe. The NHL time included a short stint with the Dallas Stars in 2001-02 (eight games) and then again in 2002-03 (one game).
