by Jashvina Shah/Staff Writer (@icehockeystick)
When Max Montes scored the game-winning goal Oct. 19 at Wisconsin, 50 of his family and friends were in the stands at the Kohl Center to celebrate with him.
“I have no words for that moment. I kind of blacked out when it happened,” Montes said.
After all, Wisconsin was the place that forged a love of hockey in his father and, later, in Max himself.
But it wasn’t at the Kohl Center where Montes learned to love hockey – although, he was a mite on ice in the storied building once upon a time, and he still has the photo of his name on the jumbotron to prove it. It was, rather, in Milwaukee, at the home of the Admirals, Wisconsin’s long-time AHL team, where Montes learned to love hockey.
It’s funny how these things work.
Max’s dad, who’s from Venezuela, met Max’s mom in Chile, before moving to Wisconsin. Max’s uncle played hockey. His dad saw a hockey game.
“He just loved this sport so much,” Montes said. “He was like, ‘Wwow. I need my kids playing this sport.’”
So when Max was three and his older brother was four, off they went to learn to skate. Back then, Montes cried on the ice because he missed his mom.
“At the start, it was a little bit of a struggle for me just because I wished my parents were out there on the ice,” Montes said. “But obviously as the years went on, my parents kept throwing me in skates and what not.
“The love of the game just took over.”
Now Max is living one of his dreams, playing college hockey, The sophomore leads the Buckeyes with six goals, and he’s on his way to a career-best point total.
“He’s just playing with more and more confidence,” Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik said. “Even when you make a mistake, we try to develop through that, through teaching on the ice and video, and understand that mistakes are part of the game and, and it’s okay.”
Montes has learned to improve his decision-making and his playing smarter hockey. The next step lies in improving his defense and 200-foot game.
“A guy that has the puck as much as he does, you got to limit your turnovers. You got to limit your turnovers in danger areas,” Rohlik said. “Because he has a puck so much, there’s going to be some of that. … If you want to play at the…
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