A coach of the Rocket to replace his counterpart with the Habs: the idea of the week

Why do the young goalies of the Canadiens experience success in the American League, but not in the NHL?

Why do they all seem to be excellent goalies with the Rocket, but not with the Canadiens?

Why do they seem to be in perfect control of their abilities when they arrive in Montreal, but not two or three weeks later?

Why do they consistently regain their quality play when they return to Laval?

Cayden Primeau was one of the worst goalies in the entire NHL before being sent back to the Rocket earlier this season (4.70 goals against average and .836 save percentage). In Laval, he looks like a goalie who is too good for the league and should be called up because he has no business being there (2.07, .921 and 18-2-1 record).

Jakub Dobes was burning up the American League before being called up by the Canadiens. When he arrived in Montreal, he continued his excellent work for about a month, and then the chain fell apart. So much so that there is hesitation to put him in front of the net now, preferring to use Samuel Montembeault (a goalie whose statistics are good, but no more).

Dobes has only completed two of his last eight games with a save percentage above .900.

Of course, it must be noted that the level of competition in the American League is lower than in the NHL. Guys like Primeau and Dobes benefit from the extra fraction of a second in executing plays.

But how can we explain the fact that the chain falls apart so much – often after a few weeks – when they are called upon to play in Montreal?

People close to the Habs told me that the most logical explanation is possibly the identity of the goalie coach in Laval and Montreal. Here is the segment where I report what I heard, a segment from the latest episode of Stanley25 :

In Laval, it’s Marco Marciano who takes care of the goalies, and has been doing so since 2017. Before that, he was with the IceCaps of St. John’s and the Hamilton Bulldogs. In short, he has been with the Habs’ affiliate team for over 10 years.

He is 43 years old, his teaching methods are in sync with the young players of the Generation Z who are currently playing professional hockey, and he is up to date with all the things to teach a young goalie. He is also very focused on communication, understanding, and respect.

In Montreal, the goalie coach is Éric Raymond, a 52-year-old man who joined the Canadiens in 2021, a few months before Dominique Ducharme was fired. Initially, he was Ducharme’s guy, with whom he had worked at Halifax (QMJHL).

Martin St-Louis kept him on staff…

Éric Raymond knows his hockey, don’t get me wrong, but he has a more traditional/conservative approach. His way of doing things is not always in line with how the young players of the new generation expect things to happen.

Let’s just say that communication is not his greatest professional quality, unlike Dominique Ducharme Martin St-Louis.

Moreover, how can we explain that goalies who move from Laval to Montreal seem to lose all their landmarks?

According to what I’m told, Éric Raymond teaches different things than Marciano, and in trying to change the way the young goalies from Laval play, he sometimes confuses them more than anything else.

Certain goalies who have left the organization are not kind to Raymond when questioned about him.

Where am I going with this?
We are on Wednesday, April 2, and at the time of writing these lines, Jacob Fowler has still not signed his entry-level contract.

Based on what I wrote above – and what I said on the podcast Stanley25 -, I hope to see Fowler sign a contract that will start in 2025-26, as well as an amateur try-out that will allow him to finish the season in Laval.

He would have the chance to play minutes, but also to work with Marco Marciano, and not Éric Raymond.

I don’t know Raymond. I also don’t know the job of a goalie coach at a level as high as the NHL…

But according to what I hear, working in Laval would currently be more formative for Fowler than working in Montreal. Even if it’s less lucrative for him in the short term, it could be more lucrative in the long term. Especially since next season, Fowler should be the Rocket’s number one goalie. It would be just as well to start that right away…

Extension

I imagine that one day, the Canadiens will evaluate the option of promoting Marco Marciano to Montreal. His goalies have been successful in Laval regardless of the identity of the head coach (J-F Houle or Pascal Vincent). Kasimir Kaskisuo… Connor Hughes…

Except that I have no information about this; I’m just thinking out loud.