Kent Hughes had no choice: Jakub Dobes had to play more

We knew it was coming, the Canadiens had to start removing players from their roster. Several injured players are on the verge of returning to action.

Jacob Fowler and Owen Beck were traded to the Rocket at 10 a.m. this morning. In Fowler's case, it's easy to explain: the kid came to help a club whose two goalies were all crooked a month ago, and he did it. In particular, he allowed Samuel Montembeault to go and rebuild/repair in Laval with Marco Marciano.

But Montembeault has just had four big games and is ready to take over the #1 goalie position on a regular basis. Since his return, Monty has only had one game with an efficiency percentage under .926… and that was a game he won (.889).

As for Fowler, it was somewhat the reverse: he lost four of his last five starts, finishing only one of those five games with an efficiency percentage over .895. Yesterday, he failed to protect at least one point in the third.

Fowler had reached the point where going back to work with Marco Marciano at a lower level had become the solution. Especially since, in Laval, he'll be able to get a lot more starts than in Montreal with a ménage à trois.

And he'll be able to play games (regular and all-star) during the Olympic break, rather than soaking up the sun in the Caribbean.

Fowler has been dominant this season in the American League (10-5-0, 2.09 and .919). He's only 21; he'll bounce back in Montreal sooner rather than later.

Jakub Dobes should/will play
Since December 22, Fowler has been the Habs' most-used goaltender. In 12 games, here's how the starts had been split:

Fowler: 6
Montembeault: 4
Dobes: 2

Dobes could not continue to play only two games out of 12.

Since the start of the new year, the Habs had been running almost exclusively with two goalies. Between January 2 and 15, Dobes started just one of his team's eight games . That's not enough, even for a #2 goalie.

In short, Dobes needed to play more, whether in Montreal or Laval.

Fowler's poor outings, coupled with Dobes' winning record (4-0-1 in his last five games, 14-5-3 this season), pushed the American to Laval.

With comments from Dobes and Martin St-Louis a few days ago, Kent Hughes had no choice but to continue giving Dobes a chance, regardless of his “style” in front of the net in recent weeks.

We'll see what Dobes can do in his next few games, and how Fowler bounces back in Laval. The rest of the story isn't written yet; it will be in the coming weeks.

Can't wait to see who gets the start tomorrow in Ottawa. Montembeault or Dobes?

The answer could come around 1:00 p.m., when the Habs practice in Ottawa.