Montreal Canadiens Goaltending Review | Sam Montembeault UNDISPUTED Number 1 + When is Fowler’s Time

Montreal Canadiens Goaltending Review | Sam Montembeault UNDISPUTED Number 1 + When is Fowler’s Time

Today on Locked on Canadians, we’re talking goalending. And while Sam Montbo is the undisputed number one in Montreal, I think it’s about time we see Jakob Dovish play a little bit more. You are Locked On Canadians, your daily podcast on the Montreal Canadians, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hello everyone and welcome in to another episode of Locked on Canadians. Thank you for making us your first listen of the day and for subscribing wherever you get your podcast doing that ensures you don’t miss an episode and it really supports us here on the show. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. My name is Ian Bav, also known as that maybe it’s Ian and I’m joined by Laura Saba, also known as the Active Stick on a very quiet day for the Montreal Canadians. We are in between games uh in the preseason. Training camp was quiet. They sent Owen Prosz back to his uh his uh his farm team, his team, his junior team. Uh and that was it. There’s nothing else happening for the Canadians today. I don’t even believe they practiced. So, we’re we’re using this as an opportunity to take a look at something we we didn’t look at over the summer much, which was the goalending. Laura, how are we feeling today um on this rare, I guess, offse off day in this uh training camp for the Canadians? We’re right back at it with another game soon. I honestly truly forgot we never did our goalie reviews and um it’s like we’re in the next season. Like the preseason has already started. We’re we’re in the next season and um we are shamefully only now doing our goalie review. Uh but you know what? That makes me feel okay because I like this goalending group. Yeah, it’s funny. You know, we focused a lot on areas of need for the Montreal Canadians over the summer, which I guess is why we didn’t really talk about goalending because it’s one of the areas they didn’t need to touch. Um they really different from the last couple of seasons. Like how long was the goalending of this team? A question mark, right? Like pretty much as soon as we realized that Carrie Price was not coming back even before that, you know, when he was when he was playing through injuries and things like that, we had a big question mark. who was going to be goalender, the goalender of the future on this team and now we’ve got some options. Yeah. So, look, we’ll take a look at Sam Montbo as the number one, figure out what makes him tick and what we can expect for him going into this next season. Um, we’ll take a look at Jakob Dobish, who I believe needs to start playing a little bit more, as I’m sure a lot of folks uh think so as well. We’ll talk about why. And then look, the the the overarching narrative through all of this is that one day this kingdom will soon belong to one Jacob Fowler. Uh we’ll try to figure out when that is and and whether or not he will be ready when our expectations are are are that he is an NHL goalender. So let’s start with Sam Montbo. Look, last year was his best uh as an NHLer. There’s really no no um debating that. Uh he won 31 games, four shutouts, uh a 901 save percentage, which isn’t all that sparkling at 282 goals against, but you know, you also have to remember how the Canadians were not all all that uh strong defensively for a lot of the season. Um Sam Montto established himself as a true number one goalender last year and was rewarded in a sense with both a playoff birth, which he unfortunately got hurt in the playoffs, but also he was a goalender for team Canada at the foreign nations. he didn’t play. Uh if you own a Sam Montbo Team Canada for Nations jersey, you wore it just as much as he did. Um you know what what are your thoughts from last year’s version of Sam Antabo that we we got to see in Montreal? I think there was a level of calmness that you know he was always unflapable. He’s not a very excitable goalie, but there seemed to be a level of calmness associated with maturity. uh when when I watched him play last year, like he seemed to be able to shake things off a lot easier. Not that he was ever, you know, that kind of guy that would dwell or anything like that. I’ve always liked listening to his press conferences in English and in French because he’s always so thoughtful. Um and I get the sense that, you know, he thinks about what he needs to do. He thinks about the game he had and how he can improve and then he goes home and he leaves it at the rink. That’s the impression I get of San Montto. I think it’s a very healthy kind of relationship. And one thing that I will not forget is that a couple years ago he had sol solidified himself u mostly through circumstance to be the number one goalie for the Montreal Canadians and um again circumstances default all of that but he was still going on to support the team members he was playing with in Laval in their playoff runs right um and I thought I found that really to be heartwarming like he he’s not somebody who like is overly preoccupied with himself he’s not he he he just he’s very chill, right? He’s a likable guy. He’s not intense. He’s he’s nothing like that. He just seems to really like being a hockey player and just really like thinking about improving himself all the time. Like I really find that. And so when he was invited to Olympic camp, I don’t think it was just one of those courtesy things because, you know, he was by default the the the third string goalie for Four Nations. I truly think like they’re like, “Okay, this is a goalie that belongs at this camp. Yeah, I think so, too. I also think that, you know, at the Olympics, they won’t just run one goalie the entire time. Um, that’s not historically how those tournaments go. You play a lot of you play a lot more games than you do at Four Nations. You play more roundroin games, especially against lesser opponents. Maybe you want to give your number one a night off. You you know, you can afford to play your backup in situations like that. Um, I I very much see as the ultimate teammate. Yes, the image of him from last season that I think will will stick with me forever was game three of the playoffs. He’s unfortunately pulled from that game due to injury. He did some serious damage to his groin. Um Jacob Dobish comes in, wins the game, and there’s just a shot of Dobish in the in the hallway in the tunnel going back to the locker room, and Sam Antumbbo is in like street clothes. He’s in like the Canadians training t-shirt and he’s got like he’s the he has the biggest smile on his face for his teammate. Like that could have been an opportunity for a player to and maybe maybe he was hurting inside because he didn’t get to finish that game and he earned it through that season and it would have meant a lot for him. He still he hasn’t won a playoff game. Yakab Dobish has won more playoff games than Sam Montto. But in that moment, he was beaming with pride for his teammate, knowing full well that I think Sam Montbo knows he’s going to be back there and in a situation where he will be winning playoff games. I I I always I will always see that moment. He’s got both hands on his shoulders just like so excited for his teammate and his friend and Jakob Dobish that I just I find myself this is a player I will always root for regardless of whether or not he’s wearing the jersey that I like. It’s a It’s I’m rooting for the guy. The guy even if he goes to Ottawa. Okay, let’s not push it. But but I Yes. Even so, I will always in the back of my mind if if Ottawa were to win a game with Sam Montbo and Net, I would grip my teeth and go, I’m very happy for you, Sam. Like I I find that that he is we talk about model Canadians a lot. Model Montreal Canadians. We were just before we went on air, we were talking about Tyler to Fully. Like that’s a guy model Montreal Canadian. wasn’t here long, made his impact, loved every moment of him being here. Monzo is in that same category for me. Yes, very much so. Uh, and I’m really hoping that Zach Baldick also turns out to be that way. Um, and Alex Kerier to a certain extent. Like Alex Kerry’s obviously a little bit older, a little bit more mature, has a little bit more experience in the National Hockey League, but they all seem to appreciate like the opportunity to play. Like I think it’s a bit different with Tofo not being a hometown player, but I think they wear the weight of being a Montreal Canadian very well. And there’s something about uh Samuel Montbo. He doesn’t have the same mag magnetism. He’s not as magnetic as Carrie Price, but he is so likable. He’s so endearing. So like you have different forms of affection to them towards them, but you like you appreciate it. And I think that the weight of being a Montreal Canadians starting goalender is not lost on Samuel Monttoba. I just really love how he’s able to handle it and deal with it. Yeah. I often think I often in my mind compare his situation to that of of uh Jos Antibo um in that, you know, he was tasked with being the goalie after Patrick Wah, right? Sam Montbo is tasked with being the goalie after Carrie Price, which is not easy to do. Like I I wouldn’t I I don’t think many people would succeed in that effort. And Sam on to his credit has not made us forget about Carrie Price. We still know that that’s that that history is there. It’s one of the the the biggest regrets of the last 20 years of the Montreal Canadians is not winning with that guy. But I am not worried about goalending because Carrie Price isn’t here. Like Sam Montbo has solidified that for for me in a way that I think Justin Tibo also did in his own way, but the Canadians were so bad after that. Like it was not totally a comparable situation, but I find that they’re kind of similar in that regard. Absolutely. I think that Samuel Montto like over the course of last season and a little bit before we’d be like, who’s going to be their number one goalie? And we get listeners being like, “Seontambo, he’s going to be the number one goalie.” And I think I think he’s done that. You know, the like the Canadians, if they are as as good as they are hoping to be this season, they need barely above average league league like a barely above league average goalending from Sam, but I think he’s more than capable of that. He was above average last year. There’s no like he was really good in some like Travis Yos had him number three. I can’t remember what stat he used to kind of manipulate that outcome. probably like goals saved above expected. Like yeah, I think that he Sam Onbo does quite well in that from a save percentage standpoint. He’s a 901. Like they could get into the playoffs with their starter being a 901. That’s all you need. Exactly. And I honestly truly like I I just want him to do well and I don’t like I I don’t want people to think that I don’t think he’s up to par because he is. He’s up to par. Yeah, for sure. I agree. I agree. All right. While we love Sam Montto, I don’t know that the Canadians will be able to get by with him playing 62 games like he did this past season. So, we look to the backup in one Yakob Dovish, who rose to that role last year. We’ll figure out what can we expect from from uh Dobish in his I guess second season in the National Hockey League. And can he play more from Montreal? We’ll get into that in just a minute here on Locked on Canadians. The NFL season is here and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’tmiss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Look, I love using FanDuel. It fits how I like to bet. I love player props. I love the anytime touchdowns. I love building parlays out of those anytime touchdowns. Um, it’s really fun to to follow along, especially with those prime time games. As you’re listening to this, Thursday Night Football is going to kick off tonight. Why don’t you jump in on the action with FanDuel, it makes those games more exciting, whether you’re watching your team or keeping an eye on some of your fantasy players who are playing in that game. So, are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fandal.com to get started. That’s fandal.com to place your first $5 bet. All right, we’re back. So, let’s We’re going to talk about Yakabish. I want to take you back a little bit, though. So, a few a few not this past season, the season before Montreal was running the three-headed goalie monster because they didn’t want to lose Kaden Primo for nothing. Um, and they ultimately didn’t. They traded him for a draft pick. So, cool. They got something for him. Um, but they also had Jake Allen in net. Um, they ended up trading Jake Allen for some picks from New Jersey. They then thought, “Okay, we’re going to roll with with Mabo and Primo.” And Primo very quickly proved that he couldn’t handle that. the Canadians made the right play and called up Jakob Dovish to make his NHL debut against the defending Stanley Cup champions on the road in Florida against the Panthers and he shuts out the Panthers in his first NHL game. And I thought like it’s going to be really hard for him to continue to live up to that. And obviously he’s given up goals since then, but I don’t think the shine has come off of Yakab Dobish’s start in the National Hockey League. You know, like I still feel very optimistic and very uh I I feel good with him in the net. Do you still feel that way about him? Can I tell you why? Yeah. Do it. Because he doesn’t lose confidence. No. When he loses, he doesn’t lose confidence. There’s some games and I haven’t truly I have not had I’ve not watched a game. I do not remember watching a game last year. I know there weren’t many, but where saying like, “Oh, Dobish had a bad game.” I’ve had like thoughts where oh, he might have had a bad period. Oh, there were some goals where I don’t think he should have let them through, but every single time like I don’t think I could say that he legitimately objectively has had a full bad game. And even when that happens, he does not lose confidence. He stands tall. He doesn’t act like a rookie. He acts like he’s been there forever. He acts like he’s been there, right? And I think it’s really funny because he seems to be able to have the ability to trash talk a little bit. Uh get under people’s skin, which is not his job, but he’s able to do it. I thought that was really funny like that, you know, that just just those moments where like he was the one trash talking. Wasn’t he the one that got someone else in trouble one time? Like I feel like in the offseason there was like this um Yeah, he was behind the brawl in in game three against Washington. Oh, he was the one because he was the one running his mouth. Yep. And he was We were at that game in Buffalo where he ran he said something to Jordan Greenway that made him very upset. Not enough to do anything about it in the first half or second half of that home and home against the Canadians. But I I love that this kid is this cocky. I think especially as an as an upand cominging goalie, one who like I don’t know what he projects as in Montreal considering the guy we’re going to talk about in the third segment and Jacob Fowler, but I think he you need to have that degree of I’m better than you and you’re going to hear it. I I I love that from goalies especially because it’s kind of a thankless job in the NHL. They’re sort of like kickers in football where we only really a lot of times we only really talk about them when they’re doing poorly. Yes. You know, um I I love that Dobbish might have a screw or two loose and I love that he makes it everybody else’s problem. It’s so funny because then he doesn’t care, right? Like it’s like that whole thing where he like riles someone up and it’s the madman meme where the person’s like freaking out and he’s just like I don’t even think about you at all. Yeah. I I I feel very good with him in the net. Last year he was a 909 in the games that he played in Montreal. Obviously that shut out in his first uh NHL game. Uh hockey reference has a quality uh starts percentage. Um he’s exactly league average at like five 53% of his starts are quality. That’s just like right what you want as a backup, right? Like because there are times where a backup’s going to come in and he’s going to play against a bad team. And you don’t need a quality start every time against a bad hockey team if you’re a good hockey team. you know, you’re just looking for somebody who’s not going to uh just hemorrhage goals against for, you know, every game that he’s in. I, you know, when he came in in the playoffs, it was obviously a step down from Sam Monto because Monto was playing really well to that point. It was obviously a step down, but it wasn’t so far where you’re like, “Oh, well, this is over now.” it still felt very much like the Canadians didn’t lose all that much between the two goalies. Whereas like if it was if it was uh Montbo to Primo, even though Primo was playing great in Laval at that point, if it was Montbo to Primo, it’s a different story, right? Like it it felt like with Dobish in net, there was still a chance in that series. Now, like I mentioned, Sam Montto played 62 games last year. I feel like you have to get more runway out of your backup, right? I want 32 games out of out of Jakob Dovish this up. Really? That seems like a lot, but I I don’t think that that number is wrong. Like, I think if things are going well for them, like that’s a great mix to have. You’re keeping Monto so fresh for the playoffs should they make it. It’s enough for to take a full load off of Montau. It’s enough for us to get a full look at how like how well can he play with a lot of starts, but it’s also like not enough to have any conversations about any one A or 1B. That’s a number one goalender and a number two goalender. There’s no confusion, no challenge, no nothing. Samuel Montto gets to run his own show. Now, I think it’ll be closer to like low 20s, which again, I would really rather see Samuel Monttobo play max 50. That would be ideal. Um I also think with all the backtobacks this the schedule this year is crazy because of the Olympic break. Yep. Yeah. There’s and Montreal because of of their position in the Eastern Conference is always high up on those numbers of it’s like them in Toronto and Buffalo like those guys always lead the league in backtobacks played. So I I completely agree like just there should be the Canadians should be at a point next year where there should be no reason Sam Montabo is playing both games in a backto-back which happened this season. There were times where there were times where h it happened but there were also times where it was a question of whether or not they will play the backup. It should not be a question. It should be automatic. You’re looking at a a Thursday and a Friday or a Friday and a Saturday game. Doish is getting one of those. Like it needs to be automatic at this point. And I hope that his performance in the playoffs allows Marty to feel confident in making that decision. It it’s to this point that’s not totally I mean up until last year that wasn’t he didn’t have that option because Primo didn’t didn’t hit the way that they wanted him to. I also think that Dovish plays a really important role this year because the Canadians are still in the information gathering stage when it comes to their goalending. The guy we’re going to talk about in the third segment in Jacob Balor is the monster that is behind these guys. Like he this this I joked this kingdom will belong to belong to him at some point. So Dobbish needs to prove can I be a reliable backup? Do I want to be a reliable backup in the National Hockey League or do I want to be a starter? Is Montog going to shift to that backup role? So I think like Dobbish can as a backup start to solidify his role within this team as it moves forward. Um, I don’t know what your thoughts are there. Like, does he project as a, you know, if if and when Fowler becomes a starter, is Fowler the back or is is Dobish the backup? It’s possible. It’s entirely possible. You know what I mean? Like, and it also depends, right? Like, if he has potential that’s greater than that, eventually he’s going to get traded. But if he works as a backup, there’s absolutely no reason not to keep him around until, you know, throughout like Fowler’s early career, too. just because like I just remember every year we had a different backup for Carrie Price and every year it was an adventure. It would be nice not to have an adventure in that in that position. It would be nice to just be like this is reliable. You know, you’re probably going to end up paying him a little bit more than you would any other backup. Like if you were just rotating bodies, right? We just think about how good Jake Allen was when he first got here, right? The reason they resigned Jake Allen and and he got a little bit more than you would expect from a backup goalie because they needed him to play that much and they could rely on him to play that much up until the point where they could no longer do that and had to trade him to New Jersey. Right. I’m just like I’m envisioning that he’s going to be a premium backup. But you know what? Like that’s the price you pay to be a contender. Yeah. Jake Allen was a premium backup, right? Like that was the whole thing was when you when you’re paying for a sports car like Carrie Price, you pay a lot for maintenance. And Jake Allen was that maintenance. I remember that that analogy being what was sold to us when they brought in Jake Allen. And it made sense. The Canadians don’t make the Stanley Cup playoff final, let alone the playoffs if Jake Allen is not there in that bubble season. So having a valuable backup, a good backup, especially at the price point that they’re paying Jakob Dovish, like if he can be that, we’re in really good shape. Um, all right. I I I’ve called him the monster that is dwelling behind these guys waiting for his opportunity to strike. It’s Jacob Balor. We’re going to talk about uh his progression as a as a professional goalender and when we can expect to see him take the net in Montreal. We’ll get into that in just a minute here on Locked on Canadians. All right, we are back and we have a mailbag episode as we are as you are listening to this. We’re recording it today, Thursday. It’ll come out on Friday. So, send us your questions. Locked ongmail.com is our email. It’s probably the best way to get in touch with us. But anywhere we post things, we are at Lockdown Canadians. You can find us there and send us your questions as well. Um, before we move on to Jacob Fowler, how many goalie how many backups of Carrie Price can you name? Like how if I like say a number and I’ll see if I can beat that number. Like do you is how many do you think you could name? Uh oh wow I can think of five so far. Yeah I feel like I could do five or six. So okay let’s let’s start naming like Al Mantoya. Yeah. Well I didn’t have him. So Charlie Lingren I wouldn’t be I forgot about Charlie Lingren. Um Jake Allen. We just talked about Jake Allen. That’s three. He was one of mine. Peter Budy. Peter Budy. Yes. Do we count Dustin Takarski? Because I think he ended up backing up Price the next season. So Dustin Takarski. I think that’s five. That’s five. Who was the other one I was thinking of. Oh man, people are yelling at us in the comments right now. Al the Bald. Yes. Yeah, that Alex Ald was is a is a really good one. Yeah. Um I mean I guess you could say your love hack. That’s seven. So we did pretty good. We did better than we thought. Hey, if you have a backup for Carrie Price, we missed some obscure human being. Put them in the comments down below. I would love to hear it. I guess Kaden Primo, we forgot him, too. Eight. Kaden Primo. Yeah. Was who’s the one that like was it Al Mononttoyo that like Columbus scored 10 goals on? Yes. Oh, they left him. That was a lamb to the slaughter. That poor guy. They left him up there for 10 nothing because they’re like, “Well, Carrie Price has to play tomorrow. We’re not putting him out there. Sorry, Al. You go. You go deal with it.” Was Antin a Montreal Canadian? He was, but I don’t know if he backed up Carrie Price because I think he was brought in because Price was hurt, right? It could go e I’m honestly not sure. Someone fact check us on that one. I I really enjoyed this uh remembering some goalie guys who were not these were not even Carrie Price. These were guys. These were guy guys. Yeah. Um All right. Let’s talk about someone we’re hoping is more than a guy in Jacob Fowler. I I’ve we got a good look at him last year in the uh call the cup playoffs with Laval. We got a good look at him in his first uh preseason game where he uh did not allow a goal I believe. Is that right? Against Pittsburgh. Yeah, he didn’t give up a goal. Um that bum was the only one who gave up a goal in that game. Joking obviously that was the joke. Um, look, I think he’s I think if you needed him to play a few games in the National Hockey League right now, I think he could do it. That needs to be the ultimate temptation the Canadians resist. I think that they need that’s why Dobbish being good is so important and Kappo Kakinan being good is so important because it need they need to not think, well, let’s just put Fowler in here freaking No. No. I was going to say like when you said like you know he he can I was about to say yes but let’s not exactly right it’s a luxury to have to have him in a position where go dominate in the American Hockey League play play 55 games in the A and we’ll see you maybe next year backing up or maybe we just see you start in Laval again until you’re ready to start in the National Hockey League. I don’t know. The conversation with him needs to be really clear because the runway needs to be long. You don’t want to rush this guy. You don’t want to give him any identity crisis like Kaden Primo had. Yes. You don’t want to have him come too soon. Not just with the expectations because then you’ve got another three-headed monster. What do you do with Dovish? What do you do with Samuel Monttobo? Right. But I firmly believe that when the Montreal Can Canadians are true cup contenders, true cup contenders, that Jacob Fowler will be on the NHL team at that point. Now, I don’t know what happens between now and then, I think, you know, given the choice, like if if you ever come to a crossroads, much like we had with Yarlav Hak and Carrie Price, if you come to a crossroads, the Montreal Canadians will choose Jacob Fowler. I don’t think that they would be wrong in that decision, but I think that they need to really not come even close to making that decision until a couple years from now because he’s going to play Lavel this year. If he does the thing next year where he comes up for a cup of coffee, uh, god forbid there’s an injury or someone tweaks a groin or whatever, like next season, I’m more than okay with that. But the runaway needs to be long, but the conversation with him needs to be really clear so he doesn’t start getting impatient. Um because you don’t want to ruin a goalie of the future and up until now all signs have pointed to the fact that he is a goalie of the future. Yeah. I I go back to obviously that that Yaroslav Hak trade, right? It was obvious what goalie they were more invested in. It was the goalie that year who they kept giving the opportunity to even though that season it didn’t make sense to continue to give him that opportunity. Yoshak was the better goalie that year. Um, I think of Carrie Price when they traded Crystal Ball UA to to keep him in that net. I mean, that was before Hak happened, but that was still like at the top of everyone’s mind. They are more invested in this young guy. They spent a fifth overall pick on him. Obviously, they didn’t spend that draft capital on uh Fowler, which is why I think like it buys them more time because they’re not, while they are invested in that player, they are not so invested that they will do something like that. Um they will move on from whatever goalender they need to move on from only when Jacob Fowler makes it undeniable. Um and I think that’s that’s the right way to go about this. I I still think trading Crisal UA when they did was a mistake. To this day, I still think like they should have ridden ridden him into the playoffs. Like just just keep him around. You don’t need to move him. I still am like a Bob, what were you doing? It was he had I think he used to call him a racehorse. There was some sort of horse metaphor he had with Carrie Price. Thoroughbred. He called him a thorough bread. Yeah. Yeah. Um and he was really overly emotionally invested, which is not to say that Carrie Price didn’t turn out to be one of the best. That’s not, you know, like we’ve loved Carrie Price having you here. Like we talked about it so much. um when he got fake traded to San Jose. But I just think that being that invested in a particular player is dangerous because Mark Bersan kind of fell for that too. He was so invested in Sha Weber and Carrie Price, right? He was so invested in in Kaden Primo in a sense like didn’t let him develop at all. It was like he’s ready, bring him in. Like we’ve kind of watched these two guys go on very similar career trajectories to this point. They’ve dominated at their their uh collegiate levels. They’ve, you know, Kaden Primo didn’t really dominate at the AHL at that point. He was okay in the AHL at that point, but like they were so anxious to to move him to move him into the NHL. He continues, Kaden Primo continues to be the cautionary tale here. And I know they’re different guys. They’re different demeanors. They’re different goalies, but the mentality of treating them like this is going to belong to you soon. You need to we we are going to bring you in slowly. Now, does he start a game in Montreal this year? Jacob Fowler, just the odd game. Maybe has the flu. It’s the second half of a backto-back. They don’t want to go back to Dobish. Do they go, “Ah, Fowler’s not playing tonight. Maybe we put Fowler in for a game.” I think it depends on if they need the points or not. If they are well and truly coasting into a playoff spot, they call up Kakanin. Cap Kakinan. Yes. I was going to call him Kenan. I’m like, that’s a totally different guy playing a totally different position, but on the same team. Um, that’s what they do. If they are if they don’t have a lot to lose, they call Kakiman. If they need a win, they call up Jacob Fowler. Man, it’s I don’t even disagree with you. I think it’s crazy though that we’re like, well, if we need we need an arm out of the bullpen, it’s the kid. Like I I find myself also get going to that mentality. It’ll it’s going to take some supreme willpower from that front office and from that coaching staff to not want to make that move sooner should they need to. there right now like we’ve mentioned Montabau do no reason for Jacob Fowler to be anywhere near Montreal other than Laval like yeah there’s no reason for that to happen so I’m I think I hope that this episode has stressed to people how much we like the current goalending situation in Montreal it’s very very good um very excited to see how it evolves how Dobbish continues his NHL journey how Montbo continues to make a name for himself across the league and maybe starts a game at the Olympics in in uh the winter. That would be crazy to think about considering where we were when he first got to Montreal playing most of the season with an injured wrist to Yes. Olympian Sam Montabo. It’s very fun to think about. Yes, absolutely. Um and I I do think like we should be excited and we can let ourselves get carried away in our imaginations as long as we don’t behave inappropriately towards each other when we have thoughts and feelings and fun opinions about this team. Yeah. Um I I agree. Um to which I said I want to respond to a comment that we got uh regarding my thoughts on Arbor Jacai because I will be doing this. So I I went off a little bit on Arbory in the last episode about the the bad penalty he took to negate a Canadian’s power play and also put them short-handed. Uh I don’t know the name of the user, Laura. Do you have do you have that? Yeah, it’s Joel McGee. Let’s go with that. Well, thank you for the the reply. The reply was essentially, “If he scores a point, you’re not allowed to talk about a penalty that he takes.” To which I say, “Bet. I’m totally on board with that. If he takes a penalty, but in that game scores a point, you won’t hear a peep from me about that penalty. And if you do, I want to hear about it. Let me know that I messed up because I think that’s a fair tradeoff.” Um, because I Yeah, go ahead. Can I talk about the penalty then? Yeah. I’ll just sit here stewing just so mad you’ll see like steam coming out of my ears. Um, yeah, I think that’s fair. That that comment said nothing about Laura. Just just me. I’m not allowed to do it. So, I will I will I am nothing but a gesture for you and trying to entertain you and keep you guys tuning in. So, thank you for that constructive piece of of of feedback and I’m very happy to oblige. Um, because if I’m talking about Arbory scoring a point, we’re in pretty good shape. All right, let’s get to our trivia and head out of here. Uh yesterday’s question was about the Jakai brothers each scoring uh in the same game. Yes. Um when was the last time the Habs had a pair of brothers score in the same game? We knew it was the Castitons, but when? The answer turns out to be December 23rd, 2009 versus the Carolina Hurricanes. Um in that game, the Canadians won 5 to1. Andre Cast Andre Castitson uh scored in the first period uh with an assist from with assist from Cameli and Thomas Plecanit. and Sergey Castitson scored his first of the year uh from Thomas Panitz and Scott Gomez. Um all in the first period uh both of those were in the first period. Montreal was up 4-1 at the end of the first and that was enough because then Glenn Metropolitan scored on the power play. Glenn Metropolit had two power play goals in that game. Man, that guy rules. That was so fun. I miss the Glen Metropolitan experience. That’s peak guy. Um that correct answer was given us uh given to us by uh Jos Dule on YouTube. So thank you for playing. That was a name I had not seen to this point. So, welcome to the the trivia thunderdome. Uh, Super Rain and Goodport, you have company. Uh, so keep an eye on that. Uh, today’s question, we talked a lot about goalending, and I think it’s only fitting that we talk about uh a Montrealer who we lost in in the goalending field as of late, which was Bernie Pant, who passed away this week at the age of 80. Um, in honor of the late great Bernie Pont, Patt’s first NHL win came in 1965 in Montreal as a member of the Boston Bruins. He was a Bruin well before he was a Flyer. Um, Boston won that game 3 to1. Who scored Montreal’s lone goal in that game in 1965? If you have the answer, put it in the comments down below this video. Send it to us anyway you know how and we’ll shout you out on the next episode of the show. And that’s going to do it for us today on this episode of Locked On Canadians. Thank you so much for tuning in and for subscribing wherever you get your podcast. Doing that ensures you don’t miss an episode and it really supports us here uh on the show. Like I said, we have a mailbag episode. We’re recording it as you’re listening to this on on Thursday, that evening after the game against Toronto. So, send in your questions. We’ll get to them after we cover the game. Um, and we’re uh we love the mailbag day. It’s always our favorite episode. Very much looking forward to what you guys have cooked up for us. Um, you can find us everywhere on the internet, Lockdown Canadians. Um, mostly Blue Sky, Instagram, and Tik Tok is where we’re posting things. Lockdown [email protected] for email. Send us your mailbag questions. Send us pictures of your pets wearing Canadian stuff. Send us fun stories about your times in Montreal. We love to hear it. We love to hear from you guys. Um, you can find me at Maybe it’s Ian, you can find Laura at the active stick. Thanks so much for tuning in and we’ll see you tomorrow with the mailbag after the Canadians and Leafs face off. We’ll see you then. [Music]

Sam Montembeault and Jakub Dobes solidified the Habs goaltending last season. Can they repeat their success in 2025-26?

Ian Boisvert and Laura Saba analyze the goaltending performances from last season and determine if the Habs are in good shape in net this season. Plus, how the Canadiens must resist the temptation to call up Jacob Fowler before the time is right.

0:00 Intro: Discussing Canadiens goaltending situation

5:25 Montembeault’s character and team-first attitude

10:40 Jakub Dobes as a reliable backup option

16:57 Ideal games split between Montembeault and Dobes

22:05 Remembering Carey Price’s many backup goalies

26:27 Jacob Fowler’s development and future timeline

31:08 Responding to listener feedback on Xhekaj

34:01 Trivia question honoring late Bernie Parent

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