Jacob Fowler: like a first date, we’re only thinking short term

Jacob Fowler was very good last night; turning aside 36 of the 38 shots Sidney Crosby's team directed at you in your first start of the show is no mean feat. It was only the fourth time all season that a Habs goalie had accumulated 36 saves or more.

I loved how calm and stress-free Fowler was. I also liked seeing his mother not afraid to show up on screen with a beer in hand, by the way. She was happy (and off-duty) last night.

Sports are still entertainment, and Fowler's mom didn't do anything wrong. And she couldn't choose the logo on her glass…

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I also loved learning that Carey Price dropped Fowler a line after his recall, even though Price is theoretically an employee of the San Jose Sharks. The #31 will always be a Canadiens at heart.

But you know what I don't like? All the Canadiens fans complaining on social networks that Martin St-Louis and Kent Hughes just broke Samuel Montembeault by recalling and giving the net to Jacob Fowler.

If Samuel Montembeault is broken this morning, it's because of him and his performances on the ice since the start of the season. Not because of the coaches or management!

Montembeault has won just five of the 15 games he's played in, posting a 3.65 goals-against average and a .857 save percentage. The NHL is a results league, not a development league… and the Habs' goal is to make the playoffs next spring. The hockey people in the organization are (very well) paid to make decisions by repeating the following question to themselves: which scenario gives us the best probability of winning the most games possible?

Right now, one of the answers to that question is Jacob Fowler in front of the net.

That's why I don't think Martin St-Louis and Eric Raymond have a choice: they still have to go with Fowler tomorrow in New York. They shouldn't be thinking about Montembeault's or Dobes' mental state; their objective right now is to win hockey games, that's it.

Samuel Montembeault and Jakub Dobes had their opportunities; they failed. In the short term, the net has to go to whoever gives the team the best chance of winning. And that's Jacob Fowler!

The Canadiens' players have been in competitive games for years, if not decades. They know how it works. They know that if they don't perform over a relatively long period, someone else will try to take their place. That's the way it's worked for a long time in their sporting lives, and when they reach the top of the pyramid, it's “more of the same.”

They're capable of taking it, and nobody needs to worry about them. In fact, I get the impression that Québécois fans are more worried about Montembeault than Dobes. If Samuel came from California, his name was Tim, and his last name was Manchester, would you be as worried about him?

Besides, this internal competition is healthy: it forces each player to be at his best.

The problem is that it doesn't exist among the forwards. There are never any extra forwards to challenge the top 12. As a result, guys are playing crap games and two days later, they're wearing the same clothes. Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton are going to have to start thinking about bringing in Samuel Blais to put some pressure on the forwards who aren't playing as well.

But hey, I digress. Back to the goalies…

Let's just say that I see Jacob Fowler as the new “date” for the Canadiens and their fans. They've known each other for a while now, but they've never met in person. Yesterday's first date went well, and they're planning to meet again on Saturday night in Manhattan.

They have to see each other again; it went too well to wait too long for the next “date.”

But that doesn't mean we've reached the stage of the family Christmas dinner, theshared apartment, the trip to Europe, or the toothbrush left at the other's place. You have to take it day by day and see how it goes. There's no long-term plan yet; we live in the moment.

Do you agree?

Extension

I was watching Fowler move around last night and thinking that he was more compact than last year in his movements… that he had changed his methodology on the ice.

Fowler is already a better goalie than he was coming out of the NCAA.

All credit to Marco Marciano, who corrected the most glaring errors in Fowler's game. And Fowler agreed to jump into the Marciano plan.

Fowler even lost 12 to 15 pounds in the space of a few months, in order to be at his best. Officially, he weighed 225 pounds at Boston College and 213 with the Rocket. Mobility in a goalie is a must.

I just hope Eric Raymond doesn't come along and mix it up with the kid in future practices. Let's just say he's mixed up others before.