Jakub Dobes’ stats are awful this season

A 3-5-0 record, a 4.50 goals-against average and a .862 save percentage.

When you look at those numbers, you don’t think of a goalie who’s had a lot of success so far this season. And those numbers belong to Laval Rocket goaltender Jakub Dobes.

His team-mates aren’t exactly helping him when you consider that the Laval outfit has settled into last place in the AHL for goals allowed since the start of the campaign, with 66…

But still. Dobes will have to start performing better if he ever wants a chance to play in the National League.

He had a good game in the club’s loss on Friday to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, stopping 29 of 31 shots. That said, he needs to find a way to build the rest of his season on this foundation.

Adapting a goalkeeper from the NCAA to the pros can be difficult.

More games are played, there’s more travel, and you have to think about the fact that the game is different.

The game is faster, the shots are more powerful and the intensity level is higher. It’s not so complicated after all.

Because at university level, Jakub Dobes was a (very) good goalkeeper. He had two excellent seasons with Ohio State University, but his confidence seems to be shaken at the moment.

Dobes and Strauss Mann have both played nine games so far this season, and Mann’s performance hasn’t been great either. The club’s defense is young, certainly, and there have been mistakes since the start of the season.

But at the end of the day, despite everything, the goalkeepers have to make the saves when it’s time.

In the end, it’s simple: the Rocket will never advance if they continue to give away so many goals. It’s up to Jean-François Houle to find solutions to stop this, but Dobes and Mann also have their part to play in all this.

In gusto

– Already 12 years old?

– Here you go.

– They’re hot.

– Well done.

– Stay tuned.