Jacob Fowler hoping to become Canadiens’ goalie of the future

Habs stock up on goaltenders by selecting three of them on Day 2 of NHL Draft in Nashville.

Author of the article:

Stu Cowan • Montreal Gazette

Published Jun 29, 2023 • 3 minute read

Jacob Fowler, 69th overall pick by the Montreal Canadiens, had a 27-9-4 record with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage in 40 regular-season games with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms last season. He was 8-1 in the playoffs as the Phantoms won the Clark Cup. Photo by Terry Wyatt /Getty Images

The battle for who will become the Canadiens’ goalie of the future got a lot more interesting on Thursday.

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The Canadiens used three of their picks on the second day of the NHL Draft in Nashville to take goalies. They selected Jacob Fowler in the third round (69th overall), Quentin Miller in the fourth round (128th overall) and Yevgeni Volokhin in the fifth round (144th overall).

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Martin Lapointe, the Canadiens’ director of player personnel, told reporters in Nashville that goalies take longer to develop and that a team can never have too many of them.

The Canadiens already have Samuel Montembeault, who is heading into the final year of his contract, and Jake Allen, who has a new two-year contract that kicks in next season. Carey Price’s career is unofficially over because of a knee injury and Cayden Primeau hasn’t shown that he’s ready to play in the NHL since being selected in the seventh round (199th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft.

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So the Canadiens decided to stock up on goalies in Nashville, starting with Fowler. The Florida native had a 27-9-4 record with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage in 40 regular-season games with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms last season. Fowler was even better in the playoffs, posting an 8-1 record with a 1.36 GAA and a .952 save percentage as the Phantoms won the Clark Cup.

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While Fowler is from Melbourne, Fla., he also has some Montreal connections after his grandfather re-married a French-Canadian woman from Montreal. Fowler said his father spent a lot of time in Quebec skiing and snowboarding.

“There’s a lot of emotions right now,” Fowler told reporters in Nashville. “I have a lot of family in Montreal and the Quebec area. … My aunt went to McGill, she works for Air Canada up there. I got aunts, uncles, grandparents, grandparents-in-law, all that live around Quebec City and in Montreal. It’s pretty cool how everything kind of comes full circle.”

Fowler played in the Quebec City international pee-wee tournament and has also played in tournaments in Montreal, so he knows about the passion for hockey in La Belle Province.

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“It’s a big hockey town and with pressure comes pride and I want to be a part of that,” he said. “To go to the Montreal Canadiens, I don’t think I could write the script any better.

“I think I come off as a confident guy, which I am,” added Fowler, who is 6-foot-1 and 212 pounds. “I don’t consider myself cocky by any means, but I know my game, I know myself as a person. I think what I bring to the table is something that was in interest to them. I think it’s going to be a really good thing for both parties. I want to be a Montreal Canadien and I want to win a Stanley Cup for them.”

No pressure, kid.

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“As a competitor I don’t want it to be easy,” Fowler said. “I want the bright lights, I want the big stage. I think pressure’s a privilege. The more pressure there is I think it just means that you just got to go out and perform your best.”

While Fowler is hoping to become the Canadiens’ goalie of the future, for now his sights are set on Boston College, where he will play next season. Both of his parents are lawyers and education is important to him and his family.

“That’s a big reason why I picked Boston College,” he said. “How prestigious of a school it is academically with how strong their history is in hockey as well.”

Fowler isn’t looking to become a lawyer like his parents. Instead he’s going to be a communications major, looking at sports management.

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“I want to do something useful,” he said. “I don’t want to just be a guy that goes for hockey. You’re going to be an NHL hockey player, develop to get to the next level. But you still want to develop into a young man as well.”

Canadiens fans will get a chance to see Fowler and other draft picks in action when the Canadiens hold their development camp, which starts this weekend at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard. The players will be on the ice Sunday and Monday (goalies at 9:15 a.m. and skaters at 11:15 a.m.) and the camp will wrap up with a scrimmage on Tuesday at 11 a.m.

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